The Dark Shore
by mknote
Summary: After Cloud recieves a letter from his father, he runs off to a previously undiscovered continent. AVALANCHE and companey go after him, but have to deal with a highly isolationist government. The fourth story in Frank Verderosa's FFVII Internet Series.
1. I Spy

_Publisher's Disclaimer: Besides this and the note at the end of the last chapter, I, mknote, did not write a single word of this story. It was entirely written by Frank Verderosa. I've taken the liberty to upload a map of the continent featured in this story (made by Frank himself) that can be found here: img48.imageshack.us/img48/9422/mysteelemapvu6.gif__. I hope you enjoy The Dark Shore._

CHAPTER I

I SPY

"What do you know about the submarine that was at pier three?" Elena asked.

The Harbormaster looked up from the large book he was jotting something down in and stared at her for a moment. Then he frowned.

"Who the hell are you?"

"My name is Elena," she replied, although she didn't see how that could possibly be relevant. "I'm with the Turks. Now what do you know about that sub?"

He looked at her again.

"Nothin," he said and returned to his bookkeeping.

She stood there for a moment, surprised, and not at all pleased with his attitude.

"You are the Harbormaster, aren't you?" she questioned sarcastically.

He did not look up at her.

"Yeah, that's right. And we've got dozens of ships comin in here every day. As long as they pay their docking fees I don't really pay much attention to them."

Elena didn't know much about being a Harbormaster, but she was pretty sure it entailed more than that.

"Don't you even know where it came from?" she asked.

He looked up again, and the expression on his face made it clear he wasn't happy about her wasting his precious time.

"No I don't," he responded. "And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you. That information is confidential. Now if you don't mind, I've got a lot of work to do here."

"Work?" she replied. "Sounds like a tough job."

He ignored her and continued writing in his book.

She stood there for a minute, looking at him angrily, while he took great pains to pretend she wasn't there. Finally she turned and walked out.

The others were gathered beneath an overhang beside a garage holding docking equipment. The rain had lessened some, until now it was a mere drizzle. Not that it mattered at this point, they were all soaked.

Barret and Vincent had talked to the dockworkers while Elena had gone to see the Harbormaster. Tifa had just sat there, shivering and not participating at all, but she did seem to have pulled herself together.

"Nobody I spoke to could tell me anything about the ship," Barret was saying.

"There does seem to be a certain reluctance among them to talk about it," Vincent stated. "However, I did convince one of them to give me some information. It seems the submarine has been here before. The man I spoke to told me he'd seen it three times in the last two months. Always coming in to pick up supplies, never dropping off any cargo of it's own. The skipper always goes up and has a long chat with the Harbormaster, but the man didn't know what it was all about."

They turned to look at Elena.

"The Harbormaster didn't tell me anything," she said. "He wasn't cooperative at all. I think he's hiding something."

Vincent looked at her thoughtfully.

"Perhaps I should go speak to him. Maybe I can convince him to be a little more...cooperative."

* * *

The Harbormaster was finishing the last page of his bookeeping when a sudden shadow blocked out his light.

He turned and the look of anger on his face was replaced by one of shocked surprise.

An apparition stood behind him. He saw a long flowing crimson cape, a face concealed in darkness. Was it a human or some kind of monster? A metal claw reached out and locked around his neck, forcing him back until he was pinned up against the wall. He saw firey red eyes, inhuman eyes staring at him from beneath black flowling hair. The man spoke, for he realized now it was a man, or some twisted combination of man and monster.

"I understand you weren't exactly forthcoming with my friend."

The Harbormaster's eyes darted wildly around the room. He struggled for a moment, but stopped when the metal claw tightened around his neck.

"Who do you mean?" he stammered.

"The woman who was in here a moment ago," Vincent replied. "She asked you about the submarine at pier three. She seemed to think you knew more than you let on."

Vincent move closer and stared into the man's face, his eyes boring into him.

"I don't know anything about the sub," the man answered nervously.

Vincent's other hand came up. It held his handgun.

"I don't think this is a very good time for you to lie," he said grimly.

The man glanced at the pistol. Sweat started to bead on his forehead.

"If I tell you they'll kill me," he said.

Vincent brought his face even closer, until it was inches from the Harbormaster.

"In that case you have a difficult discision to make," he said. "You've got to decide if you want to tell me and wait for them to come kill you..."

He pointed his gun at the man's forehand and pulled back the hammer.

"...or whether you'd just like to get it over with now."

The man's eyes went back and forth between the gun and Vicent's face a couple of times.

"If you kill me you'll never learn anything."

Vincent raised one eyebrow.

"What do you know," he said grimly. "The man can think after all."

He slowly brought the gun down until it was below the man's waist, then brought it up against him once more.

The Harbormaster's eyes widened.

"I guess I'll just have to shoot you in a spot where it won't be fatal quite so quickly," he hissed. "Now I'm losing my patience!"

The Harbormaster glance at him one more time, but turned away immediately.

"The sub is from Mysteele," he said.

"Mysteele?" Vincent repeated. He had never heard of it. "Where is that?"

"It's a city south of Mideel," the man replied.

"There are no cities south of Mideel," Vincent said. His grip tightened around the man's throat.

"I swear it's true," the man replied quickly. "It's across the ocean."

"Across the ocean?" Vincent said. "On an island somewhere?"

"They never really told me," the man said. "From what they've said, I think it's more than that. I think it's another continent. They've mentioned other cities at times."

"Who's they?" Vicnent questioned.

"Captain Tyler and some of his crew," the man replied. "They come into port every once in a while to pick up some supplies, but they mostly come for information."

"What sort of information?"

"All kinds of stuff. Mostly about the cities in the area. Questions about the government, military forces, economy. All kinds of things."

"What do they need this information for?"

"How should I know?" the Harbormaster replied. "They ask questions, I tell them and then they pay me. Whatever they're after is none of my business. I don't know and I don't care."

"So when are they supposed to come back?" Vincent questioned.

"I don't know. They never say. They just show up every once in a while. They don't seem to follow any kind of schedule."

Vincent looked at him thoughfully.

"What else do you know about them?"

"Nothing," the man replied. "They never say anything about themselves. But I know they don't like to be talked about. One of the dockworkers was blabbing in a bar about them a while back. A week later his body washed ashore a little south of here. If they find out I've told you anything I'm a dead man."

Vincent suddenly pushed him away. The man stumbled against his desk and fell to the ground. He looked up as Vincent stood over him.

"Well, then I guess you better hope they don't fine out," Vincent stated. He looked carefully at the man again, his red eyes gripping the man almost as well as his claw had.

"But there's one other thing you better hope for even more."

The man looked at Vincent.

"What's that?" he asked.

"You better hope I don't find out you were lying to me," he replied. Then he turned and vanished from the room.

* * *

Cid walked into Tifa's bar, followed closely by Aeris. After Barret had called them with the news he had gone to pick her up in the Slipstream The others were waiting for them.

"I talked to Barret on the way back here," Cid told them. "They're planning on following the sub. If it was a surface vessal, we could probably find it with the Slipstream, but that won't be possible with a submarine. The Slipstream can't track a vessal underwater. They tried to hire a ship to take them south of Mideel, but they couldn't find anyone willing to do it. Seems there's some rumor going around of ships disappearing mysteriously in that area. So they've decided to follow them in our own submarine. They'll be leaving tomorrow morning, after they've stocked up on supplies. Aeris and I are going to take the Slipstream and meet them there. Anyone else who wishes to come is welcome."

He looked at the others.

"I don't know what we're going to run into," he continued. "Barret says we may be going to a new continent. I have a feeling it's going to be dangerous."

"That's never stopped us before," Red stated. He looked at Nipala, who nodded.

"We're in," he said.

"I'd be happy to join you," Reeve said slowly. "That is, if you think I can be of any use."

"Of course you can join us," Aeris said.

Zack walked over and looked at Aeris.

"We still haven't gotten to have that long chat," he said to her. "I don't want to put if off any longer. I'm with you."

Aeris smiled.

"Are you sure you're up to it?" she asked.

He nodded.

"I'll be fine," he said. "Besides, Cloud is supposed to be my best friend, isn't he?"

Yuffie sat at one the tables drumming her fingers on top. She looked thoughtful.

"Hmmm," she said. "New continent, new materia"

She looked up.

"Count me in."

"I'm going too," Rude stated.

Reno looked at him sharply. Rude turned toward him and shrugged.

Reno saw all the others gazing at him. He turned from one to the other, looking lastly at Rude, but Rude did not turn toward him again. He opened his mouth to speak and then shut it. Finally he shrugged.

"I guess I better come along," he grumbled. "I'm sure you're going to need someone there to get you all out of trouble."

"All right," Cid said, looking at them with satisfaction. "Let's get going."

Shera came up beside him.

"Be careful," she said. "And hurry back. The baby is due next month. You better be here by then."

Cid grabbed hold of her, tossed his cigarette aside, and kissed her.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," he said. He looked at the others. "Let's move out!"

* * *

"Where the hell are we going?" Cloud said, standing up. They had led him down into a compartement deep inside the submarine, yet even so he could feel the motion as the ship slowly started forward.

"Relax, Mr. Strife," said the lone man in the room with him. "Someone will be here momentarily to explain everything to you."

Cloud looked at the man doubtfully, but then slowly sat back down.

The Captain had been waiting on the dock when Cloud had arrived. He had introduced himself as Captain Tyler, then he had ushered Cloud quickly into the sub, saying everything would be explained once they were aboard. But as soon as they entered the Captain had excused himself and had this other man bring him to this cabin. Now the ship was underway, and Cloud had no idea what he was doing here or where they were going. In hindsight he now thought he should have told someone where he was going. Suddenly it seemed like a very bad idea to have come at all.

The door opened and a man walked in. He nodded to the crewman, who stepped out and closed the door behind him. The man looked at Cloud.

"Glad to have you aboard," he said with a smile. "My name is Magnus. Can I get you anything."

"Actually, all I'd really like now is an explanation," Cloud replied. "The message said he would meet me at the dock. It made no mention of an ocean voyage."

Magnus shrugged and looked at him apoligetically.

"Unfortunately unavoidable," he replied. "I'm afraid your father is not aboard this ship."

"Then why did I get that message?" Cloud questioned.

"Because he was with us at the time," Magnus replied. "He was abducted."

Cloud just looked at him with a puzzled expression.

"Let me explain," Magnus continued. "Are you sure you don't want anything. Something to drink, perhaps?"

Cloud shook his head.

Magnus sat down in the chair the crewman had vacated when he left and looked at Cloud earnestly.

"This vessal is under the flag of the government of Mysteele, which is a city on the southern continent."

"There is no southern continent," Cloud stated.

"I assure you there is," the man replied. "Few of your people know of us. Mysteele and the other cities of the southern continent have always remained isolated from the rest of the world. We thougth it was in our best interests to not get involved in your...disagreements."

Cloud looked at him thoughtfully.

"You mean our wars," he said.

Magnus nodded.

"Frankly, yes. We've got enough of our own problems without getting involved in someone else's politics. In fact, that's how this whole thing started. You see, just recently our President was assasinated. It was done by a group of insurgents, know as the Brotherhood, who are attempting to bring down our government. It has thrown the entire country into chaos. The Vice President has taken over, but is all but paralyzed by the terrorist threat. In order to restore any type of order in our city the Brotherhood must be brought down."

Cloud shrugged.

"Even if this is all true, what has it got to do with me, or my father?"

"I was getting to that," Magnus replied. He glanced at the door, then turned to Cloud and continued in a lower voice.

"Your father was working for our government," he continued. "He had infiltrated the Brotherhood. He was obtaining important information for us. Vital information."

"Are you trying to tell me he was a spy?" Cloud said.

Magnus nodded.

"But someone in the Brotherhood found out about him. I don't know how they knew we were coming here, but somehow found out. We're not the only one's with spies. They killed four of my men and took him, undoubtly back to the southern continent to face their own brand of justice."

Magnus gave him a probing look. Cloud's face remained expressionless. His father had left his mother before he was one year old. Cloud had never seen him again, could not remember anything about him. As far as Cloud was concerned, he was a total stranger.

"I still don't see what this has to do with me," he said.

"Just because we are isolated doesn't mean we don't know what has been going on," Magnus replied. "You made a name for yourself when you destroyed Shinra. We know you've had experiance being a rebel leader yourself. You were quite good at it, in fact. My government believes that your knowledge of what the rebels might do would be invaluable to us."

Cloud looked at him with a puzzled expression. He had never considered himself some great tactician. All he had done was follow Sephiroth and defeat him.

"So you want me to be some kind of advisor?"

"Exactly," Magnus responded. "We need someone who can think like a rebel. Who would be better for the job than someone who had been one? But now we have an even more pressing need. We have to rescue your father from the rebels before they kill him. We need the information he has. I'd like you to help us."

Cloud sat there for a while in thought, looking at Magnus carefully. This whole thing seemed so wild, so out of the blue, that he didn't know what to think. What, did they think him some kind of grand strategist, who's cunning moves had resulted in the downfall of Shinra? If that's what they thought, boy, were they ever in for a surprise.

"I don't see that I can be of much help to you," he said frankly. "All I did was follow Sephiroth and defeat him. It didn't take any brillant thinking, just determination and more than a little luck. As for finding my father, I don't see how I can help there either. I've never been to your city, how could I possible assist you in finding him?"

"I think you're being too modest," Magnus replied. "You probably know more than you realize. I'm sure you could be a great help to us. Of cousrse you couldn't help us find your father, but you may be able to lend a hand when we do. Sephiroth was said to be the finest swordsman in your land, and you defeated him. We are short of well trained men. We could always use another sword. I assure you you will be handsomely paid for your services."

"Well, at least in that regard I may be of some help," Cloud replied.

"So you'll help us?" Magnus asked quickly.

Cloud looked around for a moment.

"It doesn't look like I have much choice," he said slowly.

"We can turn around in an instant," Magnus replied. "We'll drop you back off at the dock like nothing happened. All I would need is your word that you would make no mention of this meeting to anyone."

Cloud stood there for a long time before he spoke again.

"All right," he said finally. "But I ran off without telling anyone. I need to get in touch with my friends."

Magnus shook his head.

"I'm afraid that would be impossible at the moment. Any radio messages we send out could be picked up by the Brotherhood. I'm afraid I'm under strick orders to maintain radio silence. I'm sure once we get back to Mysteele you'll be able to get a message through."

"How long will that take?"

Magnus stood up.

"We should reach port tomorrow night," Magnus replied. "On behalf of my government, let me thank you for helping us. I assure you, you will not regret it."

Cloud looked at him skeptically. For some reason he didn't share Magnus' confidence.

"I've got to be getting back to the bridge now," Magnus said. "One of the crewman will be stationed outside. . If you need anything, anything at all, don't hesitate to ask. He can even take you on a tour, if you wish."

"Thanks," Cloud said as Magnus departed.

Cloud sat there in thought for a while. He just didn't know what to make of this. Was this whole thing on the level, or what? He had never thought of himself as having the kind of knowledge these people were looking for. And his father being a spy? His mother had never really explained to him exactly what had happened, she had just told him his father had abandoned them. To tell the truth, the only reason he had come was to see if it really was his father, and if it was to ask him one question.

Why?

On the other hand, if he did find this man, how would he know for sure that it was really his father? He didn't remember him at all. Had not heard from him his entire life. Now suddenly he appears out of nowhere? How was he supposed to believe anything these people were telling him?

He sat back in his chair and shook his head.

Well, it was too late to turn back now. Whatever else was going to happen, they had gotten his attention.


	2. Land Ho!

CHAPTER II

LAND HO!

"We're here," Cid announced.

"Good," Barret replied. "Help us get these boxes into the ship."

There were a dozen large boxes lined up along the dock beside the submarine.

Cid looked at Barret for moment, then flicked the butt of his cigarette into the ocean.

"Hello to you too," he said as he grabbed hold of one of the boxes.

With all of them helping it only took a few moments to get the cargo aboard. Shortly after that Cid was piloting them out to sea.

"So where did you say this place was?" Cid questioned.

"All we know is that it's south of Mideel," Barret replied.

"You realize that that isn't much to go on," Cid stated.

Barret nodded.

"Yeah, I know, but it's all we got. I guess if we just go south we're bound to run into it. How hard could it be to miss a continent?"

Cid shrugged. He wasn't sure Barret quite grasped how big the oceans really were, but there wasn't much else they could do. His luck hadn't failed him yet.

As they turned south Barret leaned against the bulkhead and stared off to the west. Cid heard him mumble something.

"What was that?" he questioned.

Barret turned toward him.

"Nothin," he replied. But then continued in spite of his response.

"Just thinkin about Marlene. About how much I miss her."

Cid did not reply. He had never given much thought to Barret's daughter. Never given much thought to kids at all. But now that he was about to have one of his own he thought he was begining to understand how Barret felt.

"I'm away from her so much," Barret continued. "I just hope she understands."

Cid gaazed out at the ocean ahead of them. What could he say?

"I always say I'll make it up to her when I see her again," Barret said. "But there really is no way you can do that, is there? No sooner do I get back when something else seems to come up."

This was obviously something that bothered Barret a great deal.

"But what can I do?" Barret asked, looking up at Cid suddenly. "It's not like I choose to be away from her. I've got all kinds of obligations as Mayor. I have to do my best for Corel. And I couldn't take off with Cloud in trouble. I couldn't just walk away when you guys need me. Could I?"

Cid pulled out another cigarette and lit it.

"Could I?" Barret repeated.

Cid had been locked in 'listen' mode. It startled him for a moment when he realized that Barret was suddenly expecting an answer.

"Of course you couldn't," he replied.

Barret stood there for a long time without saying anything else. In spite of the fact that he had promised himself this dozens of times before, he vowed that when this was over he would take some time off to spend with his little girl.

Below deck Zack sat in a large room that served as a mess hall. Reeve, Red, Nipala and Yuffie sat together at the far end of the room, while Tifa sat by herself off in one corner. Aeris entered the room and came over to him.

She sat down beside him. He had a brooding look on his face.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

He shrugged.

"I've been thinking too much," he replied.

"About what?" she asked.

"About what's happened," he replied. "I killed quite a few people when I was with Bennis, and I know I was in SOLDIER, and I'm sure I was in my share of battles before I was shot. But all those people were able to fight back. But what I did to those people in Nibelheim and Cosmo Canyon. That was just cold blooded murder."

Aeris looked at him sympathetically.

"But it wasn't your fault," she said. "You were being controlled by Hojo."

"I know," he replied. "But I can't help thinking there must have been something I could have done to stop it."

Aeris looked at him, knowing there really wasn't anything she could say to comfort him. Hojo had been like a plague across the land, ruining everything and everyone he came into contact with. He had killed her father, imprisioned her and her mother, as well as Red. He had experimented on Cloud and Zack, as well as destroyed his own son. He had tortured Vincent. The list went on and on. Of all the people employed by Shinra, he had been by far the worst. Even now, after he was long dead, he was still destroying lives. She wondered if it would ever end.

"A lot of unpleasent things happened to all of us," she said slowly, "because of Shinra. You weren't the only one who was forced to do things against your will."

Aeris voice faded into silence, thoughts of her own captivity seeping unbidden into her conciousness. Lying in pain in a cold dark room, screaming for her mother. But Infalna never came. She was suffering her own brand of torture at Hojo's hand. Locked up in another room, but not too far away. Not far enough so that she couldn't hear the anguished calls of her daughter.

Aeris took a deep breath.

"But it's all over now," she continued. "There's no point in dwelling on the past. None of us can change what happened to us."

Zack looked up at her and smiled faintly.

"Thank you for trying to make me feel better," he said. "But the truth is I don't know if I'll ever get over this."

Aeris nodded and couldn't help but look over at Tifa, who had often agnonized over the role she had played in the destruction of the two mako reactors in Midgar. Would it help Zack to talk to her, or would that just make things worse?

Zack followed her gaze.

"She's taking this awfully hard," he said. "Do you think we should tell her what Cloud said to you before he left?"

Aeris did not answer for a moment, but continued to look at Tifa, who had not spoken two words to anyone since they had come on board.

She looked back at Zack.

"No," she said. "That's something that she should hear straight from him. I'm sure we'll all be reunited soon enough."

Zack sat back in his chair and shrugged.

Just then Vincent came into the room. He looked around for a moment, then walked over to Reeve.

"I have something for you," he said.

Reeve looked up in surprise. He saw that Vincent was holding something in his hand.

"I was talking it over with Cid and Barret," Vincent said. "We all agreed that if you're going to come with us, you'll be better off if you have some kind of weapon. I think this would be appropriate."

Vincent held a sawed off shotgun out in front of him.

"It's called the Supershot ST," Vincent said. "It dosn't have much range, but you don't have to be much of a shot to use it. Just point it in the general direction of your opponent and it's pretty likely you'll hit em. Just make sure none of us are in the way when you use it."

Reeve just stood there looking at the gun.

"I'm not sure this is such a good idea," he stated.

"Just take it," Vincent said firmly. "You're not going to be much use to us using only your fists."

Reeve wasn't going to argue with that. But still he felt reluctant to take the weapon.He had never been much of a fighter, and he had never used a gun before. He wasn't sure he'd be able to use it if it came down to it.

Still, Vincent didn't look like he would take no for an answer.

Reeve took the gun and held it awkwardly in his hands.

"C'mon," Vincent said. "I'll take you up on deck and show you how to use it."

Reeve followed Vincent up into the conning tower, feelling somehow like a petulant child being forced to do something he didn't want to. Cid and Barret glanced at them when they appeared but then paid them no notice.

"All right," Vincent said. "The safety is over here," he indicated "Go ahead and release it."

Reeve obeyed.

"You've already got shells in the gun. I'll show you how to load it in a minute. See that sight there, you just align that with the target."

Reeve brought the gun up to his shoulder and aimed out into the ocean.

"You don't have to be too particular. Like I said before, with this gun you can just point and shoot."

Reeve wrapped his finger around the trigger.

The gun fired. Vincent jumped back at the loud retort. He had not expected Reeve to fire just then. Cid and Barret jerked around in surprise. Reeve himself stumbled backwards, banging hard into the bulkhead, and then fell to the ground.

Vincent stood there and looked at him for a moment.

"By the way, when you fire, you might want to brace yourself. It does have a bit of a kick."

Reeve dropped the gun and folded his arms across his chest. He could see both Cid and Barret trying hard to stifle grins.

"Yeah, I'll keep that in mind," he said.

* * *

Cloud stood on the deck of the submarine as it pulled up to the dock. Steep hills surrounded the harbor on three side, the fourth being open to the ocean. The city of Mysteele lay on the slopes of the hill, the roofs of the houses glittering in the moring light. Directly to the south of him he saw a wide roadway leading up the hill to an enourmous white tower at the top.

Magnuw came up beside him.

"That's the Presidental Palace," he said, nodding toward the tower. "C'mon."

The left the ship and started up the hill. Cloud looked around him as he walked. He always liked to visit new places. The architecture was a little different from what he was used to. There seemed to be more towers and spires. The streets were crowded. Most people he noticed were short with dark hair, and the dress of choice seemed to be long flowing robes and sandals. Other than that, they looked pretty much the same as anyone he would see in in Junon.

The reached the base of the tower. Cloud looked up. It rose into the sky above him, even taller than he had first realized. At the top of the hill, it must be able to be seen from miles away.

They entered and Cloud looked around. The feeling of enormity extended to the inside. The ceiling was high above him, held aloft by white stone columns.

They walked up a majestically curving starcase. Then along a wide hallway, a balcony overlooking the lower floor on their right. Finally they turned into another room, just as ornate as the rest of the building. Two people stood in the room. One was a slightly balding middle aged man, the second a young women with blonde hair and, Cloud noticed immediately, dark purple eyes.

The man came over to them as soon as they entered.

"Magnus, you're back," he said.

Magnus nodded.

"Yes, Mr. Vice President," he replied. He looked at Cloud.

"Cloud Strife, this is Vice President Gram."

The Vice President reached out and shook his hand.

"There's no need to be formal here," he said. "Just call me Gram. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you're coming here."

Cloud shrugged.

"Well, to tell you the truth, I don't really know if I'm going to be able to help you."

"I'm sure you will be quite helpful," Gram answered immediately. The woman had come up behind Gram and was now looking at Cloud carefully. Gram turned toward her.

"This is my daughter, Wisteria," he said.

Cloud nodded to her. She just stood there looking at him, a faint smile on her lips.

"I have a meeting in a few minutes," Gram said. "I just wanted to meet you. We can talk more later. Wisteria will show you to your room. If you want anything, just ask her."

"Thanks," Cloud replied. Wisteria smiled at him.

The Vice President left the room.

Magnus came up beside Cloud.

"I've got to go too," he said. "I'm sure I'll be seeing you again soon enough."

Magnus followed Gram out the door.

Cloud looked at Wisteria again. She stood there for a moment looking at him.

"I've heard a lot about you," she said. "But they didn't tell me you were so...handsome."

Cloud blushed.

"Uh...thanks," he said. He couldn't help noticing how pretty she was, but he didn't say anything.

"C'mon," she said, taking his hand. "I'll take you for a little tour before I show you your room. Unless you'd just like to go there first."

"No," Cloud said hesitantly. "A tour would be fine."

They spent the next hour walking around the palace. Then they stopped to get something to eat. Finally, Wisteria brought him to his room. It was a large room, beautifully furnished. She walked in with him and sat down on his bed.

"Will this be acceptable?" she asked.

"Of course," Cloud replied.

He unstrapped his sword and leaned it against the wall.

"How can you carry that thing around?" she asked. "It looks so heavy."

"Actually it's surprisingly light," he replied.

"I guess it would be for a strong young man like you," she said. "But it must get uncomfortable sometimes. Doesn't it ever make you back hurt."

Cloud shrugged.

"Sometimes," he replied.

She patted the bed next to her.

"Come sit down," she said.

He hesitated for a moment, then sat down beside her. She reached behind him and started massaging his back.

"Maybe this will make you feel better," she said.

He stood up immediately.

"Uh..that's not necessary," he stammered.

She stood up right beside him.

"What's the matter," she questioned. "The shy type? I find that very attractive in a man."

She moved even closer to him, until she was just inches away. Her hair brushed up against him.

"My father told me to give you anything you wanted. So if there's anything you see that you like, anything at all, just name it, and it's your's. If fact, I'd be happy to give it to you."

Cloud stood there for quite some time before he found his voice again.

"That...that's very kind of you, but all I really..."

Suddenly Magnus appeared in the doorway.

"Cloud," he said, "I've been looking all over for you. We may have gotten a lead on your father. We're going to check it out, and I thought you might want to come along."

Cloud stepped away from Wisteria, who just stood there looking at Magnus.

"Of course," he said. He walked over and put his sword back on. Then he turned to Wisteria.

"Sorry, I gotta go."

She smiled at him.

"I'm sure I'll see you again soon," she said.

Her smile disappeared as soon as he turned his back. She glared at Magnus darkly as they both walked out the door.

"I'm sure they'll be plenty of time for us to get to know one another," she said softly.

* * *

"There's land ahead," Cid announced. "I'm going to bring us up."

They had cruised southward on the surface for most of the day. But as evenining approached the skies had grown dark with clouds and the wind had started to blow strongly from the east. Soon the rains had come and the wind was blowing whitecaps up around them. The submarine was pitched and tossed about roughly in the waves. When Yuffie had started to turn green Cid decided they had had enough and had ordered them to submerge. Beneath the surface the storm could not affect them, and the turbulence they had felt above the water immediately disappeared.

They had been running underwater ever since.

Yuffie came up beside Cid.

"Is it still rough on the surface?" she asked.

"I'm afraid so," Cid replied. "But we should be making landfall soon, so you won't have to put up with it for long."

"You better hope so," she replied.

Cid glanced over at her.

"Well, if you're going to loose it, don't aim it at me!" he exclaimed.

The submarine broke the surface and immediately started to buck violently. It seemed that the storm was worse than ever.

"Oh brother," Yuffie muttered.

Cid got up quickly and opened the hatch to the conning tower. He stepped out into the rain. It was not coming down hard, but the wind blew it fiercely around them. He shaded his face from it and looked south. He could see a darker mass in the darkness in front of them.

Barret and Red followed him up.

"So what do we do now?" Barret asked.

"We'll have to find a spot to land," Cid replied. "Someplace isolated. We don't know anything about this continent. We don't know where the cities or the harbours are. And we don't know whether the natives are friendly. And I don't think we want to announce ourselves until we are sure. The people who took Cloud went through great pains to conceal their tracks. I suspect that they wouldn't be happy to see us."

"I think they already have," Yuffie commented.

"What?" Cid turned toward her. She was standing behind them looking out into the darkness. She pointed.

"Isn't that a ship?"

They both turned and looked out over the water in the direction she indicated. They could all see the dark outline of a ship.

"Shit," Cid exclaimed. He grabbed the binocular and looked through it.

"Looks like some kind of military vessal," he said grimly.

Cid saw a flash of light, then they heard a whistling sound, and suddenly a geyser of water shot up to their left.

"Shit!" Cid exclaimed again. "They're shooting at us."

"We've got to submerge," Barret yelled.

"No," Cid replied. "It's too shallow here."

"Can we shoot back?" Yuffie asked.

Cid shook his head.

"The sub is designed to attack from underwater. We don't have a chance while surfaced."

"So what do we do?" Yuffie asked.

Another shell hit nearby, much closer this time.

Cid looked toward the shore.

"We'll have to make a run for the beach. We may have to abandon the sub, but we may be able to get away on land."

"Then how are we supposed to get back?" Yuffie exclaimed.

"How the hell should I know!" Cid shot back. "But if we stay here we're just going to get sunk, and we won't be able to get back then either, now will we?"

The whistling sound came again, and then there was a tremedous explosion near the rear of the submarine.

"We've been hit!" Barret exclaimed.

Cid looked back. There was a gaping hole near the stern. He could see water rushing in.

"We're goin down!" he yelled. "Abandon ship!"

* * *

Tifa looked up as Rude sat down beside her.

"How are you?" he asked.

She looked at him for a moment before answering.

"What, is it your turn to try to cheer me up?" she questioned, rather harshly. She took a sip from the drink she held in front of her without looking at him. It was obvious to Rude that it had not been her first one.

"You can't blame your friends for being concerned about you," he replied slowly.

She sat there staring down into her drink for a long moment.

"It's just that for the first time I finally thought it was over," she eventually said softly. "Hojo is dead, and the plots he left behind him destroyed. Sephiroth is gone. Shinra is no more. After all that struggle, I finally thought we would have some peace. Is that too much to ask?"

She looked up at him finally, a questioning look in her dark brown eyes. He had to turn away. He wanted so much to have an answer for her, but he knew he didn't.

"No it's not," he replied. "But I'm sure you'll have your peace soon enough. You've made it this far, don't falter now. You've just got to be strong for a little longer."

"You don't know that," she shot back. "You don't know how long it will take to find him. For all you know we may never..."

She stopped, and he could see she was struggling to remain in control of herself. She took another gulp from her drink.

"Don't you think you've had enough?" Rude questioned.

She looked at him, and anger flared briefly in her eyes. But then it faded.

"That's seems like an odd question, coming from you," she said.

"Well," he replied. "I admit I've had more than my far share at times. But I've been doing it for most of my life. You feel the effects much more quickly when you don't drink a lot."

"Are you trying to tell me I'm drunk?" she asked.

"No," he replied. "But you seem to be headed in that direction."

She looked at him for a moment more, then decided to dismiss it and return the their original subject.

"Even if we do find him, who can say that would be the end? Who can say he wouldn't run off again by himself the first time something else came up? That's what really hurts, you know. I can understand him wanting to meet his father. Everyone wants to know about their family. But he just took off without a word. Why didn't he tell me? Did he think I would try to stop him? I don't see how, if he cares about me at all, he wouldn't have said something to me!"

Suddenly it seemed as if the whole vessal started to bob and pitch violently.

"Whoa," Tifa said, grabbing hold of the table in front of her. Fortunatly she was holding her drink in her hand when it happened. "Maybe I have had too much to drink."

"No," Rude replied. "I feel it too. We must have surfaced."

He looked around for a moment. He thought about going to find out what was going on, but he didn't want to leave Tifa.

"I guess he just thought this was something he had to do by himself," Rude continued.

"But why?" she exclaimed. "What is it with you guys that you think you have to take on the world alone?

"Maybe he's just trying to protect you."

"Oh, that is just so much macho bullshit," she said angrily. "How many times have we fought side by side? He doesn't need to protect me. If he's in danger, I want to be there with him."

She suddenly stopped and looked at him sharply.

"Why am I even telling you this," she said bitterly. "You're a Turk. You don't care."

He returned her gaze, and if he felt any emotion, he did not show it.

"I do care..." he said finally. For a moment he hesitated, unsure whether to finish the sentence. But it was something he needed to say.

"...about you."

She sat there for a long time, just looking at him without speaking. When she did speak, her voice was cold.

"You told me a while back that you didn't know what they were going to do to sector seven before it was destroyed. But let me ask you this. If you had known. If you had been told what was going to happen in time to do something about it, would it have made any difference?"

Rude looked down at the floor. They both knew what the answer to that question must be. He had thought that they could somehow get past the fact that he was a Turk, that she could put aside what had happened in the past. He had been hoping the could become friends. But that question crushed what little hope he may have had.

Suddenly he realized he had nothing more to say.

He started to get up, when suddenly there was a massive explosion. The shipped rocked beneath them, and they were both thrown to the ground. He heard Tifa cry out.

Tifa scrambled to her feet, and saw Rude getting up as well, looking around. She could see blood on his forehead. She followed his gaze to the stern. Water was flowing into the room through the open hatch.

She grabbed hold of his arm.

"We've got to get out of here," she said, starting toward the bow, but he didn't move.

"Reno is back there," he said, looking toward the stern. "I've got to see if he's all right."

He pulled out of her grasp and ran toward the rear hatch, splashing now through the water that continued to flow in. She stood there for a second, looking back and forth between him and the forward hatch. Then she turned and ran after him.

The water was running around her ankles as she entered the rear compartment. She could see Rude up ahead, stooping over something. She ran over to him.

As she came up beside him she saw that Reno was trapped beneath a maze of pipes that had fallen from the ceiling. Rude was scrambling desperately to lift them out of the way. She joined him and they quickly pulled the last few pipes off him.

Rude looked down at him.

"Can you stand?"

Reno did not reply but started to get up. Immediately he groaned in pain and sank back down again.

"My right leg is hurt," he said.

"I'll help you up," Rude said, grabbing hold of him. He looked around. The rear escape hatch was right above them.

Tifa followed his glance. Without a word she ran over to the ladder and up the few steps until she was right beneath the hatch. She hesitated for a moment. If they had already started to sink, and she opened it...

She looked down. The water was now up to Rude and Reno's waists. They had no choice.

She spun the wheel and pushed the hatch up. Water cascaded down around her, nearly knocking her off the ladder, and for a moment she did think they were underwater. But then the deluge stopped. It had just been a wave crashing over the ship. She could hear the wind whistling above her.

"Hurry up!" she yelled.

Rude dragged Reno over to the ladder. She grabbed hold and helped hoist him up. She scrambled out onto the heaving deck of the ship. She couldn't see anyone else in the darkness around them. The deck was awash.

She reached down and pulled Reno up as quickly as she could. She lost her balance and fell down, with Reno on top of her. She saw Rude begin to emerge.

A huge wave rolled across them. The ship pitched violently, and she felt herself being dragged across the deck. She scrambled desperately for handholds, but all she could find to hold on to was Reno. Suddenly the deck was no longer below her, and she found herself completely sumbmerged beneath the water.

She kicked desperately until her head broke the surface. Reno splashed up beside her, but she could see nothing else in the darkness. She looked around, bobbing in the waves, but saw no sign of anyone. Then a large wave lifted them up for a moment, and she saw the dark bulk of the submarine off to her right. But even as she looked it slowly sank down until it had disappeared below the waves.

She cried out, hoping the others would hear her, but the wind blew away her words. She looked around desperately, but saw no sign of Rude. Another wave crashed over them, and she found herself being swept away. She grabbed hold of Reno again. She looked at him. In the dark rough water it was hard to make out anything, but he seemed to be concious. He was stuggling feebly to remain afloat, but when she called out his name he did not respond.

Another wave lifted them up, and this time she saw the dark mass of land ahead of them. They had almost reached shore when the ship had gone down. Suddenly she realized she could hear the crashing of the waves on the beach above the sound of the wind.

She kicked out as hard as she could in that direction, dragging Reno along. The rough seas splashed in her face, almost choking her, and the current dragged at her. But after a while it seemed that the sound of the waves on the shore was closer.

She looked ahead, but she could see nothing in the darkness. She felt her strength ebbing. Her throat was raw from drinking seawater, and he head was throbbing. Reno hardly helped at all. He seemed more of a burden than anything else, and she almost was tempted to let go of him. But she didn't. She just gritted her teeth and told herself the beach was just ahead.

She had said that to herself a dozen times, and was almost about to dispair to the reality of it, when suddenly she felt herself being dragged across hard sand. She gave one last kick, and then the sea ebbed away, and she found herself with solid earth beneath her.

With the last of her strength she pulled Reno up until they were on dry land. She fell down on her knees beside him, suddenly realizing that she was going to be violently ill. She turned away from him and found herself retching into the dark sand. Then she crawled a few feet away and collapsed to the earth in exhaustion.


	3. Where's a Decent Inn When You Need One?

CHAPTER III

WHERE'S A DECENT INN WHEN YOU NEED ONE?

Cloud followed Magnus slowly into the building. Three other men had gone around the back.

Cloud looked around. They were in a large warehouselike structure not far from the harbour. The room they had entered appeared to be a small office. The front wall of the room was covered with glass panels, and Cloud could see a large room filled with crates and motorized equipment beyond it.

Magnus held up a hand for him to wait and slowly made his way across the room. He opened a door, grimacing at the slight squeek it made, then stood there for a moment listening. Satisfied, he waved Cloud over. Cloud came up beside him and they both stepped into the next room.

Cloud glanced to the left and right, but he could not see very far. Machinery and crates blocked his view in all directions. Magnus waved for him to move to the right. Cloud drew his sword and held it ready as they slowly worked their way forward.

He stepped around a corner and saw movement ahead of him. He brought his sword back, ready to strike, when he realized it was one of Magnus' men, one of the ones who had gone around back.

Magnus came up beside him.

"Find anything?" he asked.

The man shook his head. The other's came up and gathered around them. Magnus looked around.

"There's no one here. Perhaps our 'source' was in error."

Just then they heard a sound behind them.

Both Magnus and Cloud turned to see dark figures stepping out from behind the machinery in the direction they had just come from. There were a dozen of them. They spread out in front of a large stack of crates, their weapons ready.

One of the men near the center of the group spoke.

"You're outnumbered. But there is no need for you to die uselessly."

He looked at Cloud.

"Hand him over to us and we'll let you go peacefully."

Cloud looked at him, but Magnus did not appear surprised at all. He folded his arms across his chest.

"You know I can't do that," he replied. "But perhaps there is something else I can give you."

The man frowned. Magnus brought his hands forward, and green light glowed inside them.

The crates behind the men burst into flames. Immediately Magnus dropped the fire materia and grabbed hold of Cloud, dragging them both down to the floor, with Magnus on top.

Suddenly Cloud was deafened by a tremendous explosion. He felt intense heat, and the world spun around him. Both he and Magnus went tumbling across the floor. He came to rest again when he banged roughly against a group of barrels banded together with long metal strips.

For a moment he lay there, stunned. Then he slowly turned and looked around. The crates that Magnus had set on fire were gone, turned to splinters by the huge explosion. He pulled himself to his feet, noticing blood dripping from his arm, but he felt no pain. He could see a few bodies lying on the ground.

Magnus slowly stood up beside him. He had a long scrape across his cheek. He looked around and shook his head.

"What the hell was that?" Cloud asked.

Magnus turned toward him.

"I noticed that the crates they were standing in front of were the ones used by a mining company to ship their explosives. I thought igniting it would even the odds a bit."

Cloud looked around again. He could see the body of one of Magnus' men lying nearby.

"I think they're all dead," he said, nodding toward the body.

Magnus looked at him with no hint of emotion in his eyes. He shook his head and said nothing.

"Why did he want me?" Cloud asked.

Magnus shook his head again.

"I don't know," he replied. "Obviously they know a lot more about you than we suspected. I didn't think you would become a target, but thinking back on it now I can see that was foolish. We'll have to be more careful from now on."

They heard a low groan.

"Looks like someone may still be alive," Magnus observed.

They walked over to where they had heard the sound. There was a man half buried in a pile of debris nearby. Cloud could see his hand moving feebly.

"Here he is," he said.

He stepped beside the man and lifted off the broken piece of a crate. It was the man who had spoken to them.

Magnus came over quickly. He looked down at the man.

"I'll do what I can for him," he said. "You go see if you can get us some help."

Cloud nodded slowly and then turned away. Magnus watched Cloud until he disappeaed from view, then he bent down beside the man and slowly lifted his head. The man groaned and opened his eyes.

"Magnus," he said slowly, the words coming with difficulty. "What have you done? This wasn't the way it was supposed to work. You have betrayed us!"

Magnus did not reply, just looked at him silently. Slowly he drew out a daggger that had been hidden in his belt. The man's eye's widened as Magnus leaned forward.

The man cried out and then slumped to the floor. Magnus stood up. He looked down for a moment, but the man no longer moved. Then he slipped his dagger back into his belt and walked out of the room.

* * *

Shivering and dripping wet, Aeris walked slowly along the shore. She and Zack had climbed up on deck as soon as they had heard Cid cry out. The others were already in the water. She could not see them, but she could hear their shouts. Zack had grabbed her hand and they had plunged in. She tried to stay with him, but almost immediately the waves had dragged them apart, and instead she had found herself using all her strength just to stay afloat. She heard both Zack and some of the others calling out, but each time they had sounded farther and farther away, until she heard them no more, and she had found herself alone in the dark water.

She had no idea how long she had struggled in the storm. But eventually she dragged herself to shore. Now she peered into the darkness, but saw no sign of her friends.The wind still howled around her, and she had given up calling. She had to get off the beach and out of this wind.

She took one more look around. The rain had stopped, but the wind had not lessened. She could not see far in the darknes, but the beach around her was empty.

Reluctantly she made up into the dunes. She had hoped to remain on the beach on the chance that she would see any of her friends who might come ashore here, but she was too cold and wet to stay any longer. She needed to find some shelter.

There was a dark line of trees beyond the dunes. She could see no lights, or any other sign of civilization. Although the rain had stopped, the clouds were still thick over her head. She could not see very far ahead. But to her left she could make out the dark form a bluff overlooking the ocean. Perhaps she would be able to see something from that vantage point.

She made her way through the darkness, slowly climbing up the slope. The ground was rough and covered with short twisting pine trees and a low growing shrub with sharp spikey leaves. More than once she felt them jabbing into her ankle.

At the top the foliage disappeared, except for a few wind beaten tufts of grass. The wind was stronger than ever here, and it whirled around her, making her shiver uncontrollably. She couldn't stay here long.

She looked out over the ocean. She could hear the waves crashing on the shore below, but all she saw was a sea of blackness. She turned in a slow circle. The forest inland was just as dark as the ocean, but then she saw the twinkling of three or four pinpoints of light off to the south. It appeared to be quite a ways off in the forest.

She shrugged and started back down the slope, this time angling away from the beach toward the dark treeline. But she hadn't taken more than a few steps when she stopped and turned, listening suddenly.

"Aeris!"

It was Vincent's voice, but for a moment she did not see him. Then three figures suddenly materialized out of the darkness. One of them immediately came over to her.

"Aeris, are you all right?" Reeve questioned. He looked at her closely. "Oh, you're shivering."

"We're all cold," Elena stated, coming up beside them as well. "C'mon, let's find some place out of this wind."

"Looks like that may be a town over there," Aeris said, pointing toward the lights. The others turned to look.

"Do you think we should go there?" Reeve questioned.

Aeris looked at him..

"Well, we can't stay here," she replied.

"We need to get out of the wind and find some dry clothes," Vincent agreed.

"But they already blew our ship out of the water," Reeve stated. "How do we know these people will be any friendlier?"

"We don't," Vincent replied. "But it seems like we have little choice. That ship may have actively been seeking intruders, but they may not be interested in us at all in some small village."

Reeve did not reply, realizing that Vincent was right. Whether the villagers were hostile of friendly, thay had no other choice.

Aeris started toward the forest, the others close behind.

"Have you seen anyone else?" Elena asked.

"No," Aeris replied. She hoped everyone had made it safely to shore. She wondered what had happened to Zack.

"The way the wind was blowing, they could have come ashore far away from here," Vincent said. "But if they did land nearby, it's likely they'll head for the town as well.

"Let's hope so," Aeris said. She didn't like being seperated from everyone, especially since she didn't know if they had all made it to shore. She couldn't even be sure everyone made it out of the sub before it sank. Under the cirumstances, it seemed it would be a minor miracle if they all survived.

But there was nothing she could do about it, and worrying would not help the situation. They would just have to go on as best they could and hope for the best.

The forest was pitch black under the trees. Aeris could hardly see more than a few paces in front of her, yet she soon found out the others were even worse off. Apparently the Ancients had eyesight better able to penetrate the dark than that of ordinary humans, and this was realized after some stumbling about. Soon Aeris found herself leading them slowly through the trees. But even though she could see a little better than the others, that didn't make the going easy. The underbrush was thick and tangled around them, and it was difficult to penetrate, for there were no trails. On top of that the plants were still wet from the recent rain, and every branch they moved splashed them with cold drops of water. Even though they were all already soaked, it was an uncomfortable experience.

They went on like this for some time. Aeris didn't know how far away the town was, but at the rate they were going she was begining to think it would take them all night to get there. But just when she was about to suggest that perhaps this wasn't such a good idea the forest suddenly opened up ahead of them and they found themselves standing beside a narrow dirt road.

"Well, this looks promising," Vincent commented.

"Thank God," Elena muttered.

They started down the road, marching much faster now. It wasn't long before they saw the twinkling of lights through the trees ahead.

They reached the town. There really wasn't much to it. They passed half a dozen wooden cabins perched in small clearings cut from the forest. Just past them they came upon a larger building standing right by the side of the road. A single street light stood in front of it, but the building itself was dark.

A sign above the front door said 'General Store'.

Vincent walked up and tried the door. It was locked. He banged on it. They waited several minutes, but there was no answer.

He walked back to the others.

"Looks like it's closed," he said. "I wonder what time it is?"

Aeris shrugged. She knew it had to be late. She looked around. The streets were deserted.

"So what do we do now?" Reeve questioned.

"Well, it's a general store," Elena said. "It's bound to have what we need inside. A locked door never stopped a Turk."

"You mean break in?" Reeve said nervously.

"Why not," she replied, looking at him sharply. "It is an emergency."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Reeve replied uncertainly.

"I wasn't asking for your opinion," she said and started toward the building.

"Wait," Aeris said.

Elena turned to look at her.

"You too?" she questioned. "Look, they shot at us first, remember? I don't think anything we might take from that store is going to make up for the loss of our submarine. They owe us."

"These people didn't have anything to do with that," Aeris replied. "I don't know what they're like, but to assume they are all hostile is foolish. We're far from home, and as you so clearly pointed out, we have no way to get back to our own land. We're at a real disadvantage here. I don't think giving them cause to treat us like criminals is going to help our situation. Why don't we just ask one of the townspeople if the owner can open up the store for us? It couldn't hurt to try, after all, what you said was true, this is an emergency."

"I agree," Reeve stated immediately.

Elena stood there with her hands on her hips and glared at Aeris, obviously not thrilled with the idea. She looked at Vincent.

"I'm going to go find someone," Aeris said, and started off before Vincent could say anything. Reeve followed her. Vincent looked at them for a moment, then turned to Elena and shrugged. Then he too walked off after them. Elena stood there, glaring after them all angrily. Then she shook her head and followed as well.

Aeris walked down the road until she saw a house with a light on inside. She went up to the door and knocked.

After a few moments a man opened the door. He looked at her in surprise. Then he glanced at the others behind her. They were all soaked to the skin and covered with dirt and scratches from the beach and the forest. They must have been quite a sight.

"Hi," she said. "Sorry to bother you, but we need help. The ship we were on sunk off your coast. We're cold and tired, and we need shelter and some warm clothing. I know it's late, but do you think someone could let us into the general store? We'd be happy to purchase whatever we need."

The man just stood there looking at them for an uncomfortably long time.

"Your ship sunk?" he finally said.

"Yes," she replied. "In the storm. Can't you help us?"

The man again said nothing, just looked at them all slowly. His gaze lingered on Vincent for a moment, but when Vincent glared back at him he quickly turned away.

They heard a woman's voice from in the house. The man glanced inside then turned back toward them again. He held up his hand.

"Just a moment," he said, then turned and walked back inside.

Aeris could hear the man and woman talking. She could not make out what they were saying, but it sounded like they were arguing. Vincent came up beside her and stood there listening carefully. The voices stopped and she heard the man approaching once again. She looked at Vincent, but he just turned toward her and shrugged.

The man reappeared in the doorway.

"I'll take you over to the storekeepers house," he said. "I'm sure he'll be able to help you."

"Thank you," Aeris said.

The man led them silently down the street past three more houses. They reached a fourth one and the man walked up to the door and knocked. The door opened and Aeris saw a woman standing inside. She looked at them for a moment, a frown forming on her face.

"Hello Bull," she said. "What's this all about?"

"These people need some help," he said. He turned toward Aeris.

"Be out in a moment," he said.

Then he stepped into the house.

"Here we go again," Elena mutttered.

But he was only gone a moment. When he came back out another man was following him. The second man looked at them. Vincent glared back and he turned away even faster than Bull had.

"C'mon," Bull said.

They walked back up the road to the general store. The second man produced and key and opened the door. He turned on the lights and they walked in.

"Take whatever you need," the man said. "I'll light a fire so you can warm up."

"That's very kind of you," Aeris replied.

The man walked over and started a fire while they picked out some clothes. Then he walked over to the counter. Bull came up beside him and they both stood there talking quietly, glancing over at Aeris and her friends occasionally.

Elena stepped up beside Vincent.

"I think you make them nervous," she said softly.

He glanced over at the two men.

"Something is making them nervous," he stated.

Aeris took a long red dress off the rack.

"I think I like this one," she said. She walked into the dressing room.

She came out a short time later and walked over to the fire. Soon all of them had changed into new clothes.

"That feels much better," Reeve said.

"Thank you so much for all the help," Aeris said. The shopkeeper just nodded to her.

Suddenly Vincent saw a flash of light outside. He turned and looked out the window. There was a vehicle out there, stopped down the road. The lights blinked off.

"I've got to get back to the house," the storekeeper said. "You can stay here as long as you like. I'll come back later to lock up."

Both he and Bull walked out the door, closing it behind them.

Vincent walked over to the front of the store and looked out the window next to the door. He could see the men walking down the street rapidly, then they suddenly broke into a run.

He turned and walked over to Elena.

"Get ready," he said.

Elena looked at him for just a moment, then stood up and stepped directly in front of him. She put her hands behind her back.

Reeve looked at them curiously for a moment, but then the front door suddenly burst open. Six men, all armed, ran into the room and spread out in front of them.

"By order of the Imperial Government of Mysteele," one of the men shouted, "you are hearby ordered to lay down your weapons and surreder to us immediately."

For a moment the room was completely silent. Then Reeve dropped his gun to the floor with a thud.

Simultaneously Elena crouched down, bringing her own weapon around from behind her back. Vincent already had his out, concealed behind Elena until she ducked down. There was a rapid blast of gunfire as they both opened up, and Reeve stumbled back, stunned by the loud blasts that went off right beside him, so close they made his ears ring. It took only an instant, but when he looked up again the guards lay crumpled on the ground. He saw blood starting to pool beneath one of them.

Elena holstered her gun and looked at Aeris, who had stood unmoving thoughout the episode.

"So much for being nice," she growled.

"Let's get out of here," Vincent said.

They walked out the door and quickly made there way down the street. When they reached the storekeepers house Vincent suddenly stopped.

"Be back in a moment," he said.

He pulled out his gun once again and ran over to the door. He kicked it and the door flew open. He rushed inside, Elena right behind him. Aeris followed, with Reeve bringing up the rear.

Aeris found Vincent in the bedroom, standing in front of the storekeeper, his gun pointed at the man's head. The storekeepers wife stood against the wall to one side, her hands up over her mouth, tears in her eyes.

"Vincent," Aeris exclaimed.

"Get out of here, Aeris," Elena said savagely.

Vincent held up his hand for them to be silent, but he did not look at them, but instead stared at the storekeeper.

"Why did you betray us?" Vincent said.

"Please," the man replied, his legs shaking violently. "I had no choice. We have to report any strangers immediately. If we don't, and they find out, the whole village would be destroyed."

"What do you mean?" Vincent questioned.

"We have to report any strangers," the woman spoke in a quivering voice. "It's the law. If we don't the entire village can suffer. It's happend before. There used to be a town about ten miles north of here. The government found out that some strangers had come into the town that had not been reported. They sent troops in and destroyed the entire village, killed everyone there and burned the town to the ground."

"But why would they do such a thing?" Aeris stated, obviously horrified by the notion.

"It's the law," the man repeated. "They don't want us talking to anyone from the other side."

"Other side?" Elena said

The woman looked at him with a shocked look on her face.

"Well, it's obvious from their clothes and their talk, now isn't it?" he said, looking at her.

"You know, the other side of the ocean," he continued. "The other continents. We're not even supposed to know they exist, but no matter what the government thinks, we're not complete fools."

"But why would they want you not to know about us?" Reeve questioned.

"How should I know," the man replied. "I'm just a simple storekeeper. I don't know what heads of state are thinking. I'm just trying to mind my own business and survive. That was hard enough before, but it's almost impossible now that Gram had taken over."

"Martin, you talk too much," his wife interjected.

"Well, what difference does it make?" the man replied sharply. He looked at Vincent. "You might as well just shoot me now and save the government the trouble."

"No one is going to shoot you," Aeris said, stepping foward. She looked at Vincent. He stood there for a moment, then slowly lowered his gun.

"Who is this Gram person?" he asked.

"Vice President Gram," the man replied. "Well, acting President now that the real President has been assassinated. To tell you the truth I wasn't real sorry to see the man go, but now that Gram has taken over things are ten times worse. Taxes have gone up and government troops are everywhere, taking whatever they want. It's gotten so an ordinary citizen can barely survive anymore. Almost makes me want to go and join that Brotherhood."

"Martin!" his wife exclaimed.

"Brotherhood, what's that?" Elena said.

The man glanced at his wife, but then continued.

"Its a resistance movement. Don't know much about it. But if the government finds out you have anything to do with them, they come down even harder than if you'd been harbouring strangers. Between the government and the Brotherhood, you can't trust anyone anymore."

"How do we get to Mysteele?" Vincent asked.

"It's about fifty miles west of here along the coast. But after what you've done here, the roads will be crawling with government troops."

"Are there any towns closer?" Vincent questioned. "Large towns?"

"Yeah," the man replied after thinking for a moment. "There's Dunlan and Tyril, they're both west of here along the road. Dunlan is on the coast, but Tyril is a little inland. Then there's Pangir, that's south of here, and out of your way if you're going to Mysteele. They're all pretty large towns."

Elena walked over to the door and glanced out.

"I think it would be best if we got out of here as soon as possible," she said.

Vincent nodded.

He turned and walked out, followed closely by Elena. Aeris looked at Martin, shrugged and followed them out, with Reeve right behind her.

"Do you really think it was a good idea to tell them where we are going?" Elena asked Vincent once they were outside. "I'm sure more troops are going to come, and I've no doubt he'll tell them everything."

"We don't seem to have had much choice," Vincent pointed out. "We had to know how to get to Mysteele. We wouldn't be any better off wandering around the countryside aimlessly."

"I suppose," she replied after a moment. "Why did you ask him if there were any other large cities nearby?"

"I don't think we can make it to Mysteele after what we've done. At least not now. I'm sure that guy wasn't lying when he said the roads would be crawling with government troops. We've got to find some place to lie low for a while. We're strangers here, and we'll stick out like sore thumbs in a small town, where everybody knows everybody else, but we may be able to blend in better in a big city."

Elena nodded.

"I suppose you're right. So where are we headed?"

"Well, if he does talk, then they'll know we're interested in getting to Mysteele, so they'll cover the roads west of here. I think we should head south to Pangir, it may be a little out of the way, but it's less likely we'll be spotted."

"Sounds reasonable," Elena agreed. She turned to look at the others, who were trailing behind.

"What about her?" she said, nodding toward Aeris. "Isn't there something you can do to keep the girl scout from getting in the way?"

Vincent looked at her narrowly.

"Leave Aeris alone," he replied. "You don't know what she can do. We should be thankful that she's with us."

Elena looked at him for a moment, anger showing in her eyes.

"What, do you like her or something?"

Vincent laughed. The others looked at him in surprise.

"Aeris?" he said. He glanced over at her. Both she and Reeve were looking at them with puzzled expressions.

"She is a very beautiful girl," he continued. "But no, we live in completely different worlds. We would not be a good match. I prefer a woman a little more..."

He reached out and put his arm around her.

"...down to earth."

Elena smiled and slipped her arm around his waist.

"And beautiful too?"

Vincent smiled.

"Of course," he replied. "Not let's get a move on. I think we've worn out our welcome in this town."

* * *

"Goddam!"

Barret looked over at Cid in the darkness.

"What now?"

"My freaking cigarettes are wet," Cid replied. He tossed the pack away in disgust.

Barret growled.

"We just lost a submarine and you're worried about your cigarettes?" he said.

"I didn't say I was worried," Cid replied. "I was merely venting my displeasure."

Barret suddenly turned and looked toward the ocean.

"What was that?"

"What was what?" Cid asked as he checked his other pockets.

"I thought I heard something," Barret replied.

They both turned and looked out into the ocean. Cid listened carefully, but all he heard was the waves crashing on the shore.

"I don't see anything," he said.

Barret held up his hand. Finally he pointed.

"There," he said.

Cid looked where he was pointing. At first he didn't see anything, then he caught a glimpse of what looked like a figure bobbing in the waves. Simultaniously he heard a voice call out.

"Sounds like Yuffie," he said.

Barret ran out into the surf. He stood there for a minute until he saw her again. Then he plunged into the water. In moments he had reached her and pulled her to shore. They both stumbled up the beach, Yuffie coughing and gasping for breath. When they reached Cid Yuffie sat down to catch her breath.

"You okay?" Cid asked.

"Do I look it?" she replied sharply, when she could finally speak. "Gawd, that was awful. I thought I was going to drown for sure. You sure got us into one fine mess this time!"

Cid looked at her thoughtfully.

"I told you it might be dangerous," he replied.

"Yeah, but I thought we would at least reach land before that," she commented. She looked around.

"Where are the others?"

"Don't know," Barret replied. "We haven't seen them. In this storm they could have come ashore anywhere. I hope they're all right."

Cid looked around. The wind swirled about him. Yuffie shivered.

"C'mon," he said. "Let's walk down the beach. Maybe we can find some of the others."

"It's too cold," Yuffie protested.

"We won't stay on the beach for long," Cid replied. "If the others are nearby, I'd like to find them."

"If the others are nearby, they'll have sense enough to get out of this wind," Yuffie muttered, but she got up and followed them as they walked away.

Cid and Barret scanned the water and the shore constantly as they made their way along the beach, but they saw nothing in the darkness around them. They walked on for quite some time, Yuffie slowly lagging further and futher behind. Eventually she stopped all together. The turned to look at her.

"I'm freezing!" she exclaimed.

Cid and Barret looked at one another.

Cid shrugged.

"I suppose she's right," he said. They were both feeling the cold as well. "It's no good stumbling around in the dark like this. We've got to get out of this wind. We'll try to find the others in the morning."

Barret nodded. They started to head up the beach, but even as they did so they spotted the dark shape of a building not far ahead of them.

"What's that?" Cid questioned.

Barret did not reply. They walked forward slowly until they could make out the shrouded features of a small wooden building.

"Looks like a boathouse," Cid stated. He looked around. There was no other buildings nearby.

Yuffie caught up with them as they walked up to the structure. There were large double doors latched closed in the front. There was no lock.

Barret unlatched the doors and pulled them open with a creak. He peered in for a moment, then stepped inside.

Cid and Yuffie followed him in. They could barely see inside. Barret could make out a long table and what looked like a rowboat taking up most of the room. He stepped further inside and banged his leg against a chair.

"Damn," he muttered.

The others said nothing.

Barret continued to stumble forward in the dark. Cid just stood there, waiting for his eyes to adjust. Yuffie walked slowly over to the table. It was just a dark shadow in front of her. There was a window over it. She could here the wind whistling through a small crack in the pane. It let a faint light into the room, just barely enough to see by, but even so she thought she saw something on the table.

She reached out and confirmed her suspicion. She felt around on the table nearby, and was rewarded when she found the small item she was looking for. She opened up the pack of matches and struck one, then she used it to light the oil lamp on the table in front of her.

They looked around, blinking in the new found light. Most of what was in the room they had already discovered. A wooden rowboat with the paint flaking off stood in the middle of the room, taking up most of it. The table Yuffie stood in front of, covered with fishing equipment. An empty barrel at the back of the room. Nets covered the far wall.

"So where do you think the owner is?" Barret questioned.

"Safely tucked away in his nice comfortable bed," Yuffie replied.

Cid nodded.

"Probably true. I don't think he's going to be using his boat in this storm."

"So you think we should stay here for the night?" Barret asked.

Cid looked around.

"Well, it's not the best accomadations in the world, but it could be worse. Does anybody want to go back out there to look for someplace better?"

"Not me," Yuffie replied quickly.

Barret shook his head.

"All right then," Cid said. "Make yourselves comfortable and let's try to get some rest."

Yuffie looked around, then stepped into the boat and sat down near the stern, her back propped up against a seat cushion. She pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. Though they were out of the wind, she was still cold and wet.

"I just wish we had some dry clothes," she muttered.

"Yeah," Barret agreed. He was still poking around, looking in the corners and under the table. Then he reached down and pulled out a thick cloth sack. He shook it in the air and dust swirled around him. Then he sat down in the corner of the room and wrapped it around himself.

He looked up. Yuffie was looking at him forlornly.

"It sure is cold," she said softly.

Barret turned away and wrapped the cloth around him more tightly. He tried mightily to ignore her, but he could feel her eyes on him.

He shifted uncomfortably back and forth for a few minutes.

He glanced over at her again.

She shivered.

"Oh good grief!" he exclaimed. He got up, walked over and handed her the cloth. She grabbed it and wrapped it around herself. She smiled at him.

"Thank you Barret," she said politely.

He just grumbled in return and sat back down in his corner.

Cid walked over and blew out the lamp. Then he stepped over to the door and pulled it closed. He could still here the wind howling outside. He slowly sat down with his back against the wall. He wished he had a cigarette.

"It's going to be a long night," he muttered.

* * *

Zack walked along the shore, peering into the darkness. He had been walking for quite some time now, but he had seen no sign of the others.

He had tried to stay with Aeris, but the current had pulled them apart, and he had quickly lost her. He could only hope she had made it to shore safely.

He continued along the beach, the wind whipping around him. It was cold, but he gritted his teeth and endured it. He had to find her.

The beach turned north, and looking to the right he saw that he was on a narrow promentary of land jutting out like a finger into the water. He could see the ocean on the other side of it, over the ragged grass and marsh weeds that grew there. He was tempted to just cross over the top and continue on the other side. He looked around. The beach was narrow here, the current flowed east along the shore, and this narrow strip of land acted like a natural jetty, standing directly in the way of the natural flow of the water, and anything being carried in it.

He walked on. The beach here seemed to be strewn with dark objects. Mostly pieces of wood, seaweed and other debris that had been blown ashore. But then he spotted another dark mass ahead, one much larger, large enough to be a person.

As he approached he saw that he had been right. It was someone. They were sprawled in the sand, unmoving.

He rushed over and bent down. It took him a moment to realize it was Rude. He was lying on his stomach, his eyes closed. He was unconciuos, or worse.

Zack examined him closely and realized he was breathing faintly. There was a dark clot of blood on his forhead, but Zack could see no other obvious injuries. He turned him on his back and lifted his head. Rude groaned.

"Rude, are you all right?"

He did not reply.

"Rude!" he said sharply.

Rude shook his head and moaned again, but gave no other response.

It was obvious Rude wasn't going anywhere under his own power. Zack couldn't just leave him here lying in the wind. He had to get him someplace safe. But he couldn't do that and continue his search.

Zack looked around, but all he saw around him was darkness.

He grabbed hold of Rude and lifted him up, supporting him at the shoulder. He started forward. Rude stumbled but then steadied himself. He mumbled something that Zack couldn't make out. But he did seem to understand what they were trying to do.

Zack walked back toward the forest. There was no other place to go now. They could not remain out here on the exposed beach. He didn't know whether they would be better off in the woods, but he didn't see that they had much choice. But before he reached it he noticed a pinpoint of light off to the east.

He stopped and stared. It was far off down the beach, a dim flicker of light, but it was there.

He tightened his grip on Rude and tried to walk faster, hurrying along the shore. As they approached he saw that the light stood at the end of a narrow dock. He could make out the dark shapes of a few building beyond it.

Suddenly Zack detected a sound in the sand behind him.

He eased Rude to the ground, then swung around quickly, bringing his sword out in front of him. He could see two dark figures coming up behind him, both barely detectable in the darkness. But he recognized them immediately.

"Red," he said, lowering his sword.

Red and Nipala padded up beside him. Nipala looked at Rude.

"Is he all right?"

"I'm not sure," Zack replied. "He's been hurt pretty bad, I think. Can't tell in the dark."

"Yes, we do seem to have landed ourselves in quite a predicament," Red stated.

"Have you seen anyone else?" Zack asked.

Red shook his head.

"We emerged from the water about a mile west of here," he said. "We were following the coast when we picked up your trail. We saw no sign of any of the others."

Zack sighed. About what he had expected, really. He looked back at the buildings. It was probably a fishing village.

"I thought maybe we could get some help here," he said.

"A reasonable suppostion," Red agreed.

Zack reached down and pulled Rude to his feet once more. They made there way through a short stretch of dunes until they found themselves beside the closest building. There were no windows on this side. He started towards the front, but when he reached the corner he stopped. Someone was walking down the road in front of the building toward the dock, clothed in a dark raincoat and hood.

He eased Rude down once more and then stepped in front of the building. The figure continued toward the dock.

"Excuse me," Zack said.

The person whirled around, and then stood there in silence. Zack could just make out the features of a young girl under the hood. She brought her hand up to her chest.

Zack stepped forward.

"Sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to startle you. We need some help."

She was just a few feet away now. He realized that she was even younger than he had first thought. She looked no more than twelve or thirteen. She said nothing, but continued to stare at him wide eyed.

"Don't be frightened," Zack said reassuringly. "We're not going to hurt you."

He walked forward and she took a step back. He stopped.

"You're strangers," she finally said, so softly he could barely make it out.

"Yes," he replied. "We were on a ship that sunk off the coast. My friend is hurt, and we were wondering if there was a doctor nearby."

"A ship? You were on a ship?"

"That's right," he replied. "It was sunk off the coast."

She looked past him down the road, then she suddenly stepped toward him.

"You mustn't be seen," she said with sudden urgency. She still seemed afraid, but she no longer seemed afraid of him.

"What are you talking about?" he said, suprised by the sudden change in her attitude.

"If they find you, they'll kill you," she said. "We've got to get you out of here before someone sees you."

Zack just looked at her with a puzzled expression.

"Get your friends and come this way," she hissed. "Hurry!"

Zack had no idea what to make of this, but he wasn't about to argue with her. He went back and pulled Rude up one more time. The others followed him as he started after the girl.

She was standing in front of the building. Her eyes widened when she saw Red and Nipala.

"What manner of beast is this?" she said in wonder.

Zack looked down at Red.

"I haven't quite figured that out myself," he replied.

"We are what you see," Red said simply.

The girl gave a squeel of surprise.

"They talk!"

"Sometimes too much," Zack said. "Now what is this all about?"

She looked around again.

"No time to explain it now. You are in danger. Follow me."

She turned and hurried down the road. Zack and the others followed as swiftly as they could. The girl kept pausing to look around, but they saw no one else out on the streets. But even so they had not gone far when she turned off the narrow street. She walked between two buildings and then into the darkness of the forest beyond.

Zack could barely see his hand in front of his face beneath the trees, but the girl was waiting for him.

"This way," she said, leading them down a narrow trail. "Don't worry. I've been this way many times before."

The followed the girl through the woods. It seemed to Zack that they were looping around the village, and he suspected she had gone this way just to stay out of view. Eventually they came out of the woods into a wide field. The could see the dark outline of a house not far away.

"C'mon," the girl said. "We're almost there."

She led them across the field. It looked to Zack like a cow pasture, but he couldn't be sure. He thought he made out the dark bulk of a barn to the left.

They reached the house. Zack could see light shining through a window. The girl ran up to the back door and flung it open, ushering them in.

Zack walked in, the others close behind. The girl closed the door and called out.

"Pappa, I'm home, and I've brought some guests."

In a moment a short balding man with a beard walked in from the other room. He looked at them in surprise.

"Emma, what have you done?" he exclaimed. "No one saw you, did they?"

"Of course not, Pappa," she replied. "We took the back trail."

"Thank God for that," he said.

Zack eased Rude down into a chair.

The man came over to them.

"Is he hurt?"

"Yes," Zack replied.

The man bent down and examined Rude.

"Help me get him upstairs," the man said.

They both helped Rude to his feet. The man stared curiously at Red and Nipala but said nothing. He looked at Emma.

"Get them some warm clothing."

"Yes, Pappa," she said.

They brought Rude upstairs and laid him on a bed. The man looked at Zack.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Zack. We were on a ship that sunk off your coast. There were others, but I don't know if they survived."

"Sunk by the government?" the man asked.

Zack hesitated for a moment.

"I don't know," he finally said. "But it was no accident."

The man shook his head. He slowly looked Rude over, carefully examining the cut on his head.

He stood up.

"Looks like your friend has been banged up a little, but I don't think there's any permanent damage. With a little rest he should be fine.

"Thank you," Zack said.

The man looked at him carefully.

"You're from the other continents, aren't you?"

Zack nodded.

"Thought so. Your accent gives you away. We'll have to work on that. What are you doing here?"

"A friend of ours was brought here. We were following him."

"Brought here, what do you mean by that?"

Zack explained what had happened to them.

"Interesting story," the man said when he was finished. "By the way, my name is Jourdain."

"This is Rude," Zack replied. "And the two downstairs are Red and Nipala."

"Yeah," Jourdain said slowly. "It's going to be a little more difficult to explain those two."

"Explain them to who?"

"You don't know anything about us, do you?"

Zack shook his head.

"But obviously, there are some things I need to know, aren't there?"

"There certainly are," Jourdain agreed. "The government here wants no contact with the people from the other continents. In fact, it mandates it. Any strangers at all are supposed to be immediately reported to the central government. And if they are not, the entire town can suffer, in some cases, even be destroyed."

Zack looked at him.

"So we're putting you in danger," he said.

Jourdain shrugged.

"That's nothing new," he replied. "Our government doesn't want any of your people to know about us either. Occasionally a ship from the other continents comes into our waters. It is immediately destroyed. Any survivors are executed when they are found."

"Why are they doing this?" Zack asked.

"I don't really know," Jourdain replied. "For some reason they don't want to have contact with any outsiders. Maybe they're just paranoid. I can't say."

"Not that I don't appreciate it, but if this is so dangerous, why are you helping us?"

Jourdain looked at him for a moment.

"Some things are just wrong, no matter what the government says, no matter what anyone says," he replied. "I just can't condone killing people because they happened to be unlucky enough to end up here. And I'm not the only one."

"I've got the clothes, Pappa," they heard Emma call.

"Okay," Jourdain replied. He led Zack back downstairs. Emma had already gotten a fire going. Now she handed the clothes to Zack.

"Go back upstairs and change," Jourdain said. "Emma, warm up some some soup for our guests."

He turned to look at Red and Nipala, who were lying in front of the fire. He studied them for a moment, then turned back to Zack.

"Do your pets have any special needs?"

Nipala turned to look at him.

"I assure you, we are quite content."

The man nearly jumped out of his skin.

"The...they talk," he stuttered.

"Indeed they do," Zack said. He had a feeling he was going to get tired of saying that before this adventure was through.

"The are not pets," he continued. "They are companions. I assure you, they are just as intelligent as you or I."

"At least," Red agreed modestly.

Jourdain scratched his head.

"Well, if that don't beat all," he said. "You people are just full of surprises."

Zack looked at him and smiled.

"You're pretty surprising yourself," he said. "Thanks for the help."

Jourdain nodded.

"Don't thank me yet. You're in danger every second you remain here. But don't worry about that now. You're safe for at least tonight. Relax and get some rest. You're going to need all the strenght you can get. I've got a feeling you've got a long hard road in front of you."


	4. The Ole Swimmin' Hole

CHAPTER IV

THE OLE SWIMMIN' HOLE

"Tifa."

She felt someone shaking her. She wished they'd stop. It was very annoying.

"Tifa!"

She opened her eyes and blinked in the bright sunlight. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. Her head throbbed.

"I feel terrible," she said.

"You don't look much better," Reno stated.

She held her head and glared at him. They were both covered with sand and salt residue. Reno's hair was plastered to his head on one side.

"You should talk."

Reno looked at himself and grinned.

"Yeah, I guess we both look like a pair of drowned rats."

She smiled ruefully and looked around.

"Where are we?"

Reno shrugged.

"I don't know," he replied. "You're the one who got us here. I suspect that in a fit of drunken madness you dragged me up onto the beach to have your way with me."

She gave a short bark of laughter.

"Yeah, that's likely."

She looked around. They were in a shallow depression amid the dunes just off the beach. She could hear the surf, but she could not see the ocean from here.

"Have you seen any of the others?" she asked.

Reno shook his head.

"I just got up myself," he replied. "Haven't really had a chance to look around."

Tifa tried to brush the sand out of her hair.

"Did we really sleep here all night?"

Reno just shrugged. He didn't think that was a question that needed to be answered. He had been kneeling in the sand beside her, but now he stood up. He stumbled slightly.

"How's your leg?" she questioned.

"A little sore," he replied. "But I'll live."

He was about to continue when he stopped. They both heard someone talking. Tifa realized immediately that it was no one they knew. She could not make out what they were saying.

Reno put his finger to his lips.

She looked at him.

"Maybe it's someone who can help us," she said quietly.

"Maybe," he replied doubtfully.

He slowly climbed up the dune that hid them from the beach. Tifa got up and followed. As they neared the crest of the dune they heard the voice again, closer now.

"If we don't find anything here we'll sweep the beach further west. Don't get too far apart. Remember, these people are armed and dangerous."

There was a clump of marsh grass running along the top of the dune. They slowly raised their heads and peered through the grass. They could see a dozen men walking slowly along the beach, all dressed in uniforms they did not recognize. Two men were standing closer to them watching the others. It was obvious that one of them was the man who had spoken.

They slid back down the dune until they were out of sight.

"Do you think they're from the ship that fired at us?" Tifa whispered.

"Probably," Reno replied.

"Do you really think they'll still be anywhere near the beach," they heard. The voice was not the same. It must have been the other man talking now.

"I don't know," the first man replied. "We don't know how much they know. One things for sure, they're not going to get very far on the roads. After what happened, Gram is sealing up the area tighter than a drum."

"I know. I can't believe they killed six of our people."

Tifa looked at Reno in surprise, but he did not respond.

"Yeah," the first man continued. "I heard Gram threw a fit about that. But they can't get very far. It's just a matter of time before we catch them."

"Unless they're being helped by the Brotherhood."

"Don't even suggest that," the first man responded sharply. "But I think even the Brotherhood would have trouble getting them out of this one. Gram sent Kendal himself to supervise the search, and you know how thorough he can be."

"Kendal?" the second man said in surprise. He whistled. "If they sent the Bloody Hand to find them, I feel sorry for them already."

"Well don't. Worry about yourself. If they don't find them, they're going to have to blame someone. The last thing we need is for Kendal to be looking over our search procedures with a fine tooth comb."

"Hey, stay together I said," he suddenly called out, then, less loudly. "And we don't need to lose any more men through stupid mistakes. C'mon."

The voices faded away. Reno slid back down the dune. Tifa followed.

"Looks like we're at the top of the popularity list," he said when they reached the bottom.

"Six of them killed," Tifa observed. "Looks like some of the others have already had a run in with them."

"Looks that way," Reno agreed. "And they haven't made things easier for us. It appears the natives are most definitely hostile. Sounds like that Kendal guy is someone to be avoided."

Tifa nodded.

"Yeah," she replied. "But what about that Brotherhood they mentioned?"

"Sounds like some kind of underground movement," Reno replied. "They might be able to help us, if we can find them. But that may be a big if."

Tifa looked around.

"So what do we do now?"

"Well, we can't hang around here, that's for sure. They'd be bound to find us eventually."

He looked to the south, away from the beach. The forest was about twenty yards away, the ground in between uneven and covered with dunes.

"C'mon," he said.

He headed for the trees, Tifa trailing behind, but soon the dunes diminished to low mounds, before they reached the forest. Reno looked down the beach. He could see the searchers, not very close, but still there.

"Should we wait for them to leave?" Tifa asked.

Reno shook his head.

"For all we know they may come back, and search higher up on the beach this time. They're too far away to see us if we crawl. C'mon."

He got down on all fours and slowly started through the sand. He looked back at her. She had made no move.

"C'mon," he repeated. "You're already covered with sand. It can't get any worse."

That didn't make her any less reluctant. But she knew he was right. With a sigh she lay down and crawled after him.

It didn't take them long to reach the cover of the trees. As soon as they were behind a thick clump of them they stood up, then hurried into the forest. In minutes the sound of the surf faded away.

For a long time they walked though the woods, Reno leading them directly away from the beach. Tifa was silent, knowing that Reno was just trying to put as much distance between the beach and themselves as he could. But eventually they were going to have to come up with some sort of plan.

"So where do we go from here?" she asked.

Reno shrugged.

"Not sure," he replied. "From the way those people were talking, we won't be safe anywhere near civilization. But on the other hand, we can't just wander through the woods with no supplies. We won't last long like that. Eventually, we're going to have to find a town, even if we have to sneak in and steal what we need."

"And we don't know how to get to Mysteele," she pointed out.

"I know," he replied. "I think our only chance may be to try to contact these Brotherhood people. Though how we are going to do that I have no idea. We're not going to get very far with the whole countryside against us. We're bound to get caught sooner or later unless we find someone to help us."

"But how would we know who to trust?" she asked.

"I don't know," he replied. "But first things first. We need food and some clean clothes. I don't remember the last time I've eaten. Are you hungry?"

She shook her head. Her stomach was still a bit queesy from the seawater (and perhaps other things), and just the thought of food made it worse.

"No," she replied. "But I've love to get out of these clothes. This sand is driving me crazy."

He turned and looked at her.

"Well, don't let me stop you," he said with a grin.

She looked at him angrily.

"Of everyone on board, why did I have to end up with you?" she questioned.

Reno raised his arms and shrugged.

"I guess it was just meant to be, honey."

Tifa sighed and looked away from him.

"I just hope we find the others soon," she muttered.

The trees around them seemed to thin out a little. They came out into a small clearing covered with knee high weeds. To their left the ground rose up, and they could see a line of hills in that direction.

Reno nodded toward them.

"Let's head that way. We may be able to see more from the top of one of those hills."

Tifa nodded and followed him as he headed in that direction. Soon the ground sloped up steeply ahead of them. The trees closed in around them again, but as they neared the top they became scarce once more. The ground became rough, with large areas of exposed rock. Tifa looked back down the hill as they were crossing one such expanse.

"Look," she said.

Reno turned in the direction she indicated. He could see the trees covering the ground like a green roof, but not far beyond the base of the hill in the direction she indicated he could see a wide field of gold. It looked like wheat. And beyond it he could just make out two buildings.

"Looks like a farm," he said.

Tifa nodded.

"That should do," he stated with satisfaction.

He started back down the hill in the direction of the farm, Tifa right behind him. It didn't take long for them to reach the edge of the farmland. There was no fence, just a dirt track, and then row after row of wheat, or what Tifa took for wheat. She wasn't much of a farming expert, and who knew what kind of plants might grow on this continent. But it looked like wheat to her. The stalks were higher than their heads. She wondered if wheat grew that tall.

Reno did not seem much interested. He forged ahead, quickly disappearing beneath the golden stalks. After a moment, she followed.

They walked for what seemed to Tifa to be a surprisingly long time, but eventually they reached the other end and came to clear grassland. They could see one of the buildings clearly now over a small rise. It was very close.

Reno looked at the building narrowly. Then he turned to her.

"You wait here. I'll go check it out."

"I'm coming with you," she responded.

"There's no need for us both to go," he replied. "It just increases the risk of our being seen. I'm just going to have a look around. You won't be missing out on any fun."

Tifa stood there for a minute before answering.

"Fine," she said finally. "But if you get yourself in trouble, don't expect me to come running."

He didn't respond, but trotted slowly up over the hill until he disappeared from view. Tifa stood there at the edge of the field, looking around. She didn't much like the idea of splitting up, and in spite of what she had said, she hoped he hurried back.

As it was it didn't take long before he reappeared over the rise. She could see he was carrying something. As he came closer she realized it was clothing.

"Where did you get that?" she questioned when he reached her.

He dropped the clothes on the ground.

"They had a clothesline beside the barn," he replied. He stooped down and seperated what he had. Then he handed Tifa a pair of shorts, a green blouse, and a towel.

"Thanks," she said. She held up the towel. "What's this for?"

"I found something else," he replied. "C'mon and take a look."

He picked up his things and they headed back over the hill. On the other side the ground sloped sharply downward to the right into a shallow depression. Tifa could see a circular patch of tall grass at the bottom. Reno led them down and into the grass, which, like the wheat, rose above their heads. In the center was a small pond.

"Look," he said, waving his arm at the water. "A bathtub."

She looked at him skeptically.

"Reno, this is a pond," she replied.

"Well it's the closest thing you're going to get," he replied. "You do want to get cleaned up, don't you?"

She just stood there, looking dubiously at the water. She was really uncomfortable, and the thought of jumping in the water was incredibly tempting. The grass concealed them from view, but that seemed unlikely to stop Reno's prying eyes.

"I don't think so," she said slowly shaking her head.

He stood there looking at her for a moment, then shrugged.

"Suit yourself," he replied. "But I'm going to take a dip."

With that he started to unbutton his shirt.

"Please," Tifa said, raising her hands. "I don't need to see that. I'll go wait over there."

Reno shrugged again.

"Fine."

She hurried back into the grass until she could no longer see the pond. Then she sat down and rested her head in her hands. In a few minutes she heard some splashing, and then a very contented sigh from Reno.

"Oh, this feels soooo good," he said.

Oh shut up, she mouthed.

She heard more splashing.

"Mmmmmmm."

She pressed her hands to her ears. She could still feel the sand in her hair.

She sat there for what seemed like a lifetime, but eventually she heard him step out of the water. In a minute he came back out to her, looking very refreshed.

"The water is wonderful," he said.

She stood up and looked at him, then back towards the water, then at him again. He could tell she wanted to say something. Finally she stepped toward him until she was inches from his face.

"All right!" she snapped. "But you beter stay right here. Do you hear me? Don't move from this spot. If I find you've moved an inch from this spot, I'll kick you so hard in the crotch you'll be singing soprano for the rest of you life! Do you understand me?"

He snapped to attention.

"Loud and clear," he said, and saluted her.

She stared at him for a moment longer. Then she turned and started toward the pond. She turned back again and glared at him one more time.

"I mean it!"

Reno nodded rapidly.

She turned and walked over to the edge of the pond. She looked back, but Reno was not in sight.

"Oh God, I know I'm going to regret this," she said.

She looked at the water.

"Okay," she said to herself. "Just in and out, real quick."

Then she slipped off her clothes and stepped rapidly into the pond. The water was cool but very refreshing. At least he hadn't lied about that. She dunked her hair and pulled it back, finally succeeding in getting rid of the sand. Then she eyed the grass around her for any sign of Reno.

Actually, it would have been a pleasent experience if she hadn't been so nervous. The water did feel wonderful, but she didn't take the time to enjoy it. She stayed in just long enough to wash off the sand, then she quickly reemerged and grabbed her towel. Even as she did so she heard a stirring in the foliage.

She threw the towel around herself a moment before Reno leaped out of the grass.

She looked at him, livid with rage, and was just about to shout at him, but the look on his face stopped her.

"There's someone coming," he hissed. "Please, this is no trick. You can kill me later if you wish, but we have to get out of here now."

She hesitated for just a moment, but the look he gave her was very convincing. She reached down and grabbed her clothes, then followed him as he made his way rapidly around the pond and into the grass on the other side.

They had barely passed from view when she heard a loud splash in the pond, and then the laughter of what sounded like two or three young boys. Reno looked back, and stopped when he saw that they were safely concealed from view.

He looked at her and saw the rage in her eyes.

"What can I say?" he defended himself. "Who knew the pond was the family swimming pool."

"You are such an idiot!" she hissed, coming toward him.

He took a step back.

"Aww, c'mon. It's not my fault! What was I supposed to do? Did you want me to just do nothing and let those kids get an early education?"

She stood there for a moment and her whole body shook beneath the towel. Reno looked her up and down and smiled.

"Ugggh!" she said in frustration. She turned and walked away from him without another word. He followed slowly behind as she headed back to the wheat field. When she reached the edge of it she turned toward him once more.

"You wait right here!" she said. "And I don't care if the entire population of the continent is coming, you will not move. Understand?"

"Yes ma'am," he said contritely.

She turned and disappeared into the wheat. She came out a few minutes later, dressed in the new clothes.

"This blouse is way too tight," she said.

He shrugged.

"Who's fault is that?"

She glared at him.

"C'mon, let's get out of here before they notice their clothes are missing," he said.

He walked past her, headed for the wheat once more.

She suddenly noticed he had another small bundle beside his old clothes.

"What's that?" she asked.

He unwrapped the cloth to reveal the body of a small chicken.

"Dinner."

* * *

Cloud had just finished breakfast when Magnus appeared and sat down beside him.

"We've tried to get in touch with your friends," he said.

Cloud looked at him, but Magnus did not continue, just sat there looking at him.

"And?"

Magnus hesitated a moment more.

"Turns out they are more determined than you thought. They followed you here."

"What?" Cloud said. "How?"

"In a submarine," he replied. "Though how they found out where you were I have no idea. You didn't tell anyone where you were going?"

"No," Cloud replied. "I didn't have time. I wanted to make it to Junon before it was too late. So where are they?"

Magnus hesitated again.

"We don't know."

"What do you mean?"

"The Brotherhood found out about them somehow. Their ship was sunk just off the coast."

"What!" Cloud exclaimed.

"I'm sorry," he said. "If we had know they would follow you we could have provided for their protection. But don't give up hope. We have good reason to believe that at least some, if not all of them survived. The ship went down right off the coast, and they could very well have all made it safely to shore. We have people looking for them even as we speak."

Cloud did not say anything for some time. He should have know they would do this. He should have warned Magnus of the possibility. But he had no idea what he was letting himself in for when he had left. He had thought he would just be going on a quick trip to Junon. Who would have thought he would end up here, hundreds of miles from Kalm? He didn't know what he would do if something happened to his friends. If something happened to Tifa.

"Where did this happen?" he asked.

"About fifty miles east of here."

"I want to go there," he said immediately.

Magnus looked at him sympathetically.

"I understand your concern. Of course we can do that if you wish. But I'm afraid there isn't much you can do there, and it will take you away from us if you are needed here."

"I don't seem to be doing much here anyway," Cloud replied.

"That could change very quickly. We don't know how much longer your father has to live. We may have to move at an instants notice."

Cloud stood up.

"My father has been a stranger to me for all my life," he said harshly. "The people on that boat were more important to me than he could ever be. I need to go there now."

Magnus said nothing for a moment, then he nodded.

"Of course. I understand how you feel. I'll go make the arrangements immediately. Believe me, we will do everything in our power to find your friends."

"Thank you," Cloud said.

Magnus turned and walked swiftly out of the room. He made his way up the wide staitcase and down the hall, back to the room where Cloud had met Gram. Gram and Wisteria were in the room once more, along with one other man. Gram looked at him sharply as soon as he entered.

"What did you tell him?"

"What we agreed," Magnus replied. "He wants to go to the site."

"I was afraid of that," Gram muttered.

"Relax, Mr. President," the fourth man said. "It shouldn't be a problem. He may actually be helpful. Perhaps there is something he can tell us that could lead us to them."

Gram paced nervously back and forth a few times.

"Very well," he said. "But I don't like it. This whole operation is making me nervous. Kendal, are you sure we can't extract the information we need from his dead body?"

"Oh, you can't kill him yet!" Wisteria objected.

Gram looked at her and frowned.

"Try to control yourself," he replied. "The last thing we need is for you to do something stupid. Don't forget you have a job to do."

"So who says I can't do my job and have a little fun too?" she questioned.

Gram did not respond, but looked at Kendal.

Kendal shook his head.

"There's no way to tell at the moment. We don't know whether the mako infused cells would still be viable after he died. I don't know if I could get a proper analysis."

Kendal's eyes darted about the room as he spoke. He glanced at each of them in turn. He always looked at you as if he knew you were hiding something, and he knew exactly what it was, Magnus thought.

Gram shook his head.

"You may have to kill him anyway. There's no telling how much longer he's going to cooperate."

He looked at Magnus.

"Is he still buying the story about his father?"

Magnus nodded.

"Okay," Gram continued. "But we don't know how much longer that is going to last. He hasn't asked any questions at all yet?"

"No," Magnus replied. "But I'm sure it's just a matter of time. Still, I am prepared for that."

"I'm kind of curious as to how you came up with the story in the first place," Kendal said, looking at him carefully.

"It's my job," Magnus replied simply.

"Well, it's your baby," Gram said. "Which means it'll be your head it things go wrong. Kendal is going out the the site today to take over the supervision of the search. I suppose you could go along with him. Whatever happens, make sure Cloud does not come into contact with his friends. They've been wandering around the countryside. Who knows who they've come into contact with, or what they've learned. They must be eliminated as soon as possible."

"Don't worry about that," Kendal said with a smile. "I'll find them if I have to tear the countryside apart. They must have come into contact with someone out there. There is no doubt that I will find out who. I have some very interesting deaths planned for them."

Magnus said nothing. He was well aware of Kendals excesses, and his perverted delight in the painful death of any who opposed him.

Gram turned to look at Wisteria.

"I want you to go too. Stay close to Cloud and find out everything you can about these friends of his."

Wisteria nodded.

"It'll be a pleasure," she said, and smiled sweetly.

"All right, then that's it," Gram said dismissively.

He sat back down at his desk and started looking over some paperwork. As the others exited the room Wisteria found herself walking beside Kendal.

He looked back at Gram for a moment, but the man seemed engrossed in his work. He turned toward her.

"It's disgusting the way he uses you," he said.

She looked at him for a moment before she spoke.

"I didn't know that word was in your vocabulary," she replied.

He smiled humorlessly.

"Besides," she continued. "He doesn't make me do anything I don't want to."

This seemed to upset Kendal even more, just as she had intended.

"Look," he said. "I've still got some details to take care of, but it's going to be a while yet before we leave. I should have some free time in about an hour. What say you and I..."

They both stopped and she looked at him, the smile still on her face. She reached out and ran her finger down his chest. Then she shook her head.

"I don't think so," she replied coldly. "You know it's over between us. You're just too weird for me."

He looked at her angrily.

"And you don't think a man who uses his own daughter as a slut isn't a little strange?" he said harshly.

He eyebrows went up, but she showed no sign of anger.

"I told you, he doesn't make me do anything I don't want to," she replied. "Besides, that doesn't hold a candle to some of the things you asked me to do in bed, now does it? The truth is I found your unusual fasinations cute to begin with, but now they just strike me as..."

She leaned forward until she was right beside him.

"...childish."

She turned and walked away.

He stood there for a moment, his face turning red with rage.

"Wisteria!" he snarled.

She turned back to look at him, seeming completely unfazed by his anger. He just stood there looking at her.

She shook her head.

"Give it a rest, Kendal," she said, then turned and walked down the hall.

He stood there for a long time, fuming. It was obvious from the looks she was giving the spikey haired kid why she had lost interest in him. But that would soon be remedied. After they learned what they needed to know Cloud would become expendable, and when that happened he would take great pleasure in seeing that he died a very excrutiating death.


	5. Wanderings

CHAPTER V

WANDERINGS

Barret awoke and stretched his arms with a groan. One arm had been pressed up against the wall while he slept, and it was now painful to straghten it out. He looked over at the others.

Yuffie was still asleep in the stern of the rowboat, the cloth wrapped tightly about her. The front doors of the boathouse were partially open, bright sunlight shining in. Cid stood by the doors looking out, a cigarette perched in his mouth.

"Looks like you found some dry ones," Barret said.

Cid took the cigarette out of his mouth, looked at it for a moment, then dropped it and crushed it underfoot.

"Yeah," he replied.

Yuffie opened her eyes and looked around. She yawned and untangled herself from the cloth.

"When do we eat?" she questioned as she stood up.

"Maybe not be for a while," Cid replied.

"I'm starved," she said.

Barret looked at Cid.

"Get any sleep?" Barret asked.

Cid shrugged.

"Looks like the storms over," was all he said.

Barret glanced out the door. They both stepped outside and looked around. The sky was clear, the sun shining brightly. Barret took a deep breath.

He stuck his head back inside and looked at Yuffie.

"Well, are we ready to go look for the others?"

She stepped out of the rowboat and walked through the doors to stand beside him. She looked around.

"Yeah, but first things first. I'm hungry. Let's find someplace where we can get some food!"

"I couldn't agree more," Cid stated.

A trail ran into the woods behind the boathouse. They walked along it and soon came out into a large clearing. They could see a two story house ahead of them. The trail ran alongside it and then down to a narrow road.

Yuffie was walking down the trail rapidly and now was quite a ways ahead of them.

"Hey, wait up," Cid called.

She turned to look at them.

"Well hurry up then," she exclaimed. "Just my luck I had to end up with you two old geezers. We could have just followed the trail to this house last night and slept in comfort."

"You didn't seem too anxious to leave the boathouse once we found it," Barret commented.

Yuffie did not reply, but stood waiting impatiently until they caught up with her

They walked over to the house. It had a sharply peaked roof and was covered with faded grey wooden shingles. Cid glanced in the window as they walked by, but no one stirred inside.

They went around to the front. There was a wide porch held up by square wooden posts. The floorboards creaked as they stepped onto it.

Cid strolled over to the front door and banged on it.

They stood there waiting for a few minutes. Yuffie paced back and forth impatiently.

Cid knocked on the door again.

Yuffie went over to the window and peered inside.

"See anything?" Cid said after a moment.

Yuffie shook her head.

"Looks like nobody's home," Barret observed.

Yuffie looked at Cid.

"So what do we do now?" she asked. "Should we break in?"

Cid shrugged.

"Don't see much point to that. C'mon. There's the road right there. I'm sure we'll be able to find someplace else."

Cid and Barret walked off the porch. Yuffie looked the house up and down once more, then reluctantly followed them.

When they reached the road Barret nodded to the west. The other two turned to look in that direction and saw a thin line of smoke rising up over the treetops.

"Wonder what that is," he said.

They stood there looking for a few moments. Finally Yuffie started off in that direction.

"Might as well check it out," she said. "Where there's smoke, there may be food."

Cid looked at Barret.

"Sounds good to me," he said and they hurried after her.

They walked about half a mile through rolling hills surrounded by tall pine trees. Soon the smell of burnt wood filled the air around them, and they saw dark ashes wafting by on the mild breeze.

They came around a wide turn and saw the blackened remains of a burnt out house in a small clearing ahead. As they approached they saw other houses beyond it, all of them destroyed by the fire as well.

"What the hell happened here?" Barret muttered.

No one answered. They walked slowly down the street. It looked like what must have been a small village. There were perhaps a dozen or so houses all together, with one building near the center of town that looked to have been bigger than the others. It was from here that the smoke rose, for some of the timbers from that building were still smoldering. A half charred sign lying on the ground in front of it read General Store.

Not one building had escaped the flames.

"Whatever happened here, it wasn't too long ago," Cid observed.

Barret nudged him and pointed over to the left. Near one of the houses Cid could see the charred remains of what looked like two bodies.

Cid looked at him but said nothing. Then he looked at Yuffie, but she hadn't noticed.

Still, she couldn't miss the man lying near the center of the road a little further down.

He showed no sign of being burned. But when Cid bent to examine him he found the cause of death almost immediately. He stood back up and looked at the others.

"This man was shot," he said.

Yuffie looked around.

Barret said nothing, but his face was pale.

"Do you think the fire was deliberate?" Yuffie asked.

"It sure looke that way," Cid replied slowly. "There doesn't seem to have been any attempt made to fight it. I think this town was purposely destroyed."

"But why?" she asked.

Cid shrugged. He had no idea, but he had a bad feeling about it.

Yuffie suddenly looked up.

"What was that?" she said.

"What?" Barret asked.

She stood looking at the remains of the house in front of them.

"I thought I heard something," she said slowly.

She took out her sherukin and walked slowly toward the blackened remains. Cid and Barret readied their weapons as well and followed her.

She reached the edge of the house and stared through the charred timbers. She thought she saw something move behind what was left of the back wall. Suddenly she ran straight through the building, jumping over a pile of burnt wood and cloth of what must once have been furniture. She jumped over the back wall and raised her sherukin.

Cid and Barret hurried around the house to the back. They saw Yuffie with her weapons poised to strike, but she did not move.

They came up beside her. Crouched with his back to the wall stood a young boy, covered with soot and holding a pitchfork larger than he was in front of him. He looked to be no more than ten years old. He stood over a woman who lay unmoving amid the broken timbers.

"D..don't come any closer," the boy said in a quivering voice.

They stood there looking at him for a few moments. Barret lowered his weapon. The others did so too.

"No one is going to hurt you," he said.

Yuffie took a step foward. The boy jabbed at her with the pitchfork and she had to leap back out of the way.

"Hey, watch it with that thing," she exclaimed.

The boy looked at them with grim determination.

"I said stay away!" he said.

"Relax kid," Cid said. "I told you, we're not going to hurt you."

The boy did not respond, but just stood there holding the pitchfork defiantly.

"Who did this?" Barret asked.

"C'mon, kid, put the pitchfork down," Yuffie said. She stepped toward him and he jabbed at her again. She sprang back, a look of anger on her face.

"Hey, cut it out. You're starting to piss me off!"

Barret came up beside her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Leave him be," he said.

Suddenly the woman moaned and opened her eyes. The boy turned toward her. Yuffie lunged forward and wreched the pitchfork from his hands. He started toward her with a cry, but when Cid stepped forward and bent over the woman, the boy suddenly wheeled and started to pound on his back.

"You leave my mom alone!" he cried, his voice shaking.

Cid ignored him.

Barret stepped forward and grabbed hold of him.

"Hey, let me go!"

The woman looked at Cid for a moment. He could see she was badly hurt. She had burns over most of her body, and the left side of her face was covered with blood. She turned toward the boy.

"It's all right, Mosato," she said. And it seemed a great effort for her just to get the words out. "These people are not from the government."

Cid turned toward Yuffie.

"You have a cure materia?"

Without a word Yuffie reached into her poach. In a moment she pulled out a green materia and handed it to Cid. He quickly cast it on the woman, but it seemed to have little effect.

"What's wrong?" Yuffie asked.

Cid did not answer for a moment.

"It doesn't seem to be working," he said finally. "She may be too badly hurt, or maybe it doesn't work properly on this continent. I don't know."

The boy had stopped struggling. Barret let him go and he ran over to stand beside Cid.

"What happened here?" Cid asked.

The woman coughed and took a deep breath.

"Some people came into town yesterday," she said slowly. "Strangers like yourselves. The government sent troops to arrest them, but the troops were killed. I guess they suspected we helped the strangers somehow, so last night they came in and burned the town down. They killed everyone they could find. I sent Mosato to hide in the woods. I don't think anyone else survived."

"They destroyed the entire town because of that?" Cid said.

"It's happened before," she replied. "The government doesn't want us to have anything to do with people from the outside. I don't know why."

Cid just shook his head.

"Strangers like us, you said," Barret spoke. "What did they look like?"

"I didn't really get to see them," she replied. "Just a glimpse as they were leaving town. One of them seemed to have some kind of metal arm."

Cid looked at Barret.

"Vincent," he said. He looked at the woman.

"How many of them were there?"

"Four," she replied. "At least one woman, but I didn't get a very good look at them."

"Well, we know at least some of the others made it," Barret said. "Can you tell us where they went?"

She shook her head.

"They headed west out of town, but that's all I know. If they stayed on the road, they'd be bound to be caught. And you will to. If the troops find you, they'll kill you."

Suddenly she cried out in pain.

"Mom!" the boy exclaimed as tears welled in his eyes.

"Be strong Mosato," she said. She looked at Cid.

"Please, help my son. We have relatives in Unthor. He's only ten years old. He won't survive by himself..."

"Of course we'll help," Barret said immediately.

"But we don't know where Unthor is," Cid said, looking at her.

"It's about ten miles southeast of here,"she told him. "Just follow the road east and turn south at the first turn off. No, that's not right. You can't stay on the roads. The troops will be guarding them. You'll have to head cross country."

"Where do we take him once we get to Unthor?" Barret asked.

"To his Uncle Tybor. He may be able to help you too. He knows some people."

"Do you know how to get to Mysteele?" Cid questioned.

She started coughing. A thin line of blood ran from her mouth.

"It's west of here," she replied with difficulty. "About fifty miles."

"Are there any other towns nearby?" Yuffie asked.

She nodded.

"Yes, but you can't go there. They're bound to be guarded. You have to stay..."

He voice faded and she fell silent.

"Mom!" Mosato exclaimed once more. He knelt down beside her, tears running down his face.

Cid bent closer to examine her, then shook his head. He stood up slowly.

No one spoke for quite some time. Cid, Barret and Yuffie just stood there with their heads bowed while Mosato cried quietly over the body of him mother. Finally Barret put a hand on his shoulder.

"We better get going," he said gently.

Mosato did not reply, but he stood up and allowed Barret to lead him slowly away.

When they reached the road Cid turned east.

"Mysteele is in the other direction," Yuffie pointed out.

Cid nodded. He knew that going to Unthor would take them out of their way, but what choice did they have? They couldn't just abandon the boy.

"Hey kid," Yuffie said. "Don't you know anyone in Mysteele?"

The boy did not look up, but he shook his head.

"What about the others?" Yuffie continued. "I'm sure they're all headed for Mysteele. What if they need our help?"

Cid stopped and looked at her.

"Even if we head straight for Mysteele, the chances of our running into any of the others is slim," he said. "I'm afraid they'll just have to take care of themselves. There's nothing we can do about it."

Yuffie did not reply, but did not look convinced. Cid had to admit he was reluctant to go out of his way like this. Who knows what could happen while they were delayed. For all he knew Yuffie could be right, and their friends might desperately need their help. But what could he do? For all he knew at this point, no choice might be the right one.

They walked down the road a ways, heading east, with no one saying anything. When they passed the last of the burnt buildings Cid stopped and looked around.

"I suppose it would be best if we got off the road before we run into a patrol," he said.

He led them into the wood to the south. Mosato walked in front of Barret with his head bowed. He was no longer crying.

"I'm starving," Yuffie commented before they had gotten very far.

Cid did not reply. He was hungry as well, but right now he just wanted to put some distance between themselves and what was left of that town.

"I know where some food is."

They all stopped and looked at Mosato.

"You do?" Barret questioned.

Mosato nodded.

"C'mon. It's this way," he said, pointing to the left. "It's not far."

Cid looked at Barret, who shrugged. They followed Mosato as he led them off through the trees. Before long the underbrush thickened about them, and soon they found the going difficult. But suddenly they came across a narrow trail, and Mosato turned down it and let them rapidly along.

The trail was easy for the boy to follow, but more difficult for the others. It seemed to have been blazed by someone who was not very tall. Even Mosato himself had to crouch down to get through the tangled and twisted branches that covered the trail just a few feet off the ground. Barret in particular was having a hard time, and practically had to go down on hands and kness to get by some spots. He soon fell far behind the others.

Cid wasn't doing much better. Only Yuffie seemed to be getting through without too much trouble.

Eventually they arrived in a small clearing with a huge tree in the center. The tree was surrounded by dense undergrowth. Yuffie stood looking up at it. Cid soon joined her and they stood there until Barret stumbled into the clearing, cursing and covered with scratches.

Mosato pulled a few branche aside beneath the tree and disappeared from view. Yuffie followed him. Cid pushed the branches out of the way to reveal another small clearing around the base of the tree, totally concealed by the undergrowth. Mosato was sitting on a large root with a plastic bag in his hand. He reached in and starting handing things to Yuffie. Slowly her expression changed from anticipation to surprise.

"Potato chips, candy and warm soda?" she said finally. "Don't you have any real food?"

Mosato shook his head.

Barret laughed. Yuffie looked at him angrily.

"Well, what were you expecting?" Barret said. "Steak and lobster? He's just a kid."

Cid took the bag of potato chips Mosato handed him and tore it open. He looked at Yuffie.

"Beggers can't be choosy," he said. "You better eat up. This may be the best meal you get for quite some time."

* * *

"How you feeling?"

"Much better," Rude said slowly, glancing up from the cup of tea he had cradled in his hands.

"Good," Zack replied. Rude sat in the kitchen of Jourdain's house. Emma stood nearby, frying some eggs and humming softly to herself. Red and Nipala were resting in the other room. They hadn't seen Jourdain all morning. When Zack had asked Emma about him she just shrugged and told him that he was out making arrangements.

Rude looked at Zack.

"What happened?" he asked.

"How much do you remember?" Zack questioned.

"I remember being on the sub," he said slowly. "Reno had been hurt. We had gotten him up on deck when a wave crashed into us. When I looked up Tifa and Reno were gone. What happened to them?"

Zack shook his head.

"We don't know. We haven't seen them."

Rude looked upset by this news.

"Another wave hit the ship," he continued. "and I banged my head, for the second time. I don't remember much more after that. I remember being in the water, and the wind. But that's about it."

Zack nodded slowly.

"You're lucky you didn't drown," he said. He filled Rude in on what had happened to them since he had found him on the shore.

"So what are we going to do now?" Rude asked when he had finished.

"Not sure," Zack replied. "We've got to get to Mysteele somehow. Jourdain has apparently done this before. We'll just wait to see what he has in mind."

Emma brought the eggs over and filled up their plates. Rude looked at them and suddenly realized how famished he was. It didn't take him long to clean his plate.

He looked over at Emma.

"That was delicious."

"Thanks," she replied. "Do you want any more?"

"No," Rude replied. "I've had enough."

They heard a door open in the other room. A moment later Jourdain walked in. He looked over at Rude.

"Feeling better?"

Rude nodded.

"Good," he replied. "Because I've arranged a little trip for you. We've got to get down to the docks."

Rude looked at him unhappily.

"Not another boat ride," he said.

"I'm afraid so," Jourdain replied. "But this will be down the river, not on the open ocean, so I don't think you have to worry about any more storms. Of all the roads to Mysteele, the river seems to be the one most often overloooked by government troops. It should be the safest way to go. So get your gear together, the boat leaves in half an hour."

It took them only a few minutes to collect their things. They really didn't have much in the way of possessions with them at the moment. As they were about to leave Emma rushed up to them.

"It was nice meeting you," she said. "Maybe we'll see you again some time?"

Zack smiled at her.

"I'd like that very much," he said. "It was very nice meeting you too. And a lucky thing for us. Thank you for everything."

"You're welcome."

They walked out the door and started down the road. Zack looked back to see Emma waving to them. He waved in return and then turned back toward the road. Soon the house faded from view behind them.

The town was just down the road to the north. When they reached it they headed quickly for the docks. It wasn't long before they stood beside a long wharf that ran along the river. There were half a dozen boats lined up in a row along it, but up ahead they could see some kind of commotion in front of one of them.

"That's our boat," Jourdain said slowly. "But something's wrong. There's too many people there."

He stopped and looked around. There was a long line of crates on their left, on the other side of the road from the wharf. He hesitated for a moment, then started toward them.

"C'mon," he said.

They slipped behind the crates and then made there way forward once more, concealed from view to anyone on the ships or in the road in front of them. They reached a break in the line of crates and Jourdain peered cautiously around. He stepped back immediately and looked at them.

"Mysteele guards!" he hissed. "It looks like they found out about us somehow. We've got to get out of here!"

He started back the way they had come, but Zack stepped forward and took a look for himself.

"What are you doing?" Jourdain said, stopping suddenly to look at him. "We've got to go."

"But what about the crew?" Zack said.

"It's too late for them," Jourdain replied. "They all knew the risks involved. There's nothing we can do for them."

"But I only see about a dozen guards," Zack pointed out.

"That's not enough?" Jourdain reponded. "There are only five of us, and that's if you count those two," he finished, pointing at Red and Nipala.

"Hmmm," Zack said thoughtfully. "Twleve against five. Hardly seems fair."

He looked at Rude, who had pulled out his pistol and was checking the ammo.

"True," Rude said. "Should we give them a chance to call more troops?"

Zack seemed to ponder this for a moment.

"Nah," he said finally. "If they didn't bring enough people, that's there own stupid fault."

Zack drew his sword.

"Ready?"

"Let's kick ass," Rude replied.

Jourdain just stared at them.

"You people are insane," he said.

No one bothered to respond. They were all too busy. Zack had sprung out from behind the crates and was rushing over to four guards that were nearest to them. They turned toward him a moment before he reached them, but not soon enough to react. Two went down almost before they knew what had happened. The two others hastily turned their weapons toward him, but he twisted out of the way, slicing with his sword through one of them. The fourth man actually got a shot off at him that missed wildly before he too fell with a cry.

Rude had climbed up onto a crate and now stood above them, firing down at another cluster of guards, who scrambled desperately for cover, three falling before they could find any.

Nipala and Red had used their speed to race around the other side of the crates while Zack and Rude had kept the guards attention. Now they suddenly fell upon the last group of them, who had taken refuge behind a large crane, from behind. Zack heard a ferocious roar and then screams of anguish. A few moments later Red and Nipala calmly emerged from behind the vehicle, their fur a bit ruffled, but otherwise none the worse for the wear.

Rude turned the see the single guard who was left running down the steet away from them as fast as his feet could carry him. Rude fired off a shot, but it missed. Suddenly they saw Jourdain spring out from behind the back end of the crates right in front of the man. His fist shot out, and the man fell to the ground.

Jourdain walked slowly over to them as they gathered in front of the ship. When he reached them he looked at them and shook his head slowly.

"If everyone from your continent can fight like that, it's no wonder our government doesn't want you to know about us," he said. "I had no idea you were such proficient warriors."

Zack shrugged.

"We've had a lot of practice."

"All right then," Jourdain said. "Let's get you out of here."

He led them on board the ship. They released the crew, who had been locked in the hold. The captain was the last man out. He looked them over, his gaze lingering on Red and Nipala.

"Thanks," he said. "They would have executed us all."

Zack stepped forward.

"My names..." he began.

The captain raised his hand.

"No names," he said. "We don't need to know, and if we get captured, we won't be able to tell anyone."

Zack nodded.

"How did those guards find out about you?" Jourdain asked.

The captain shrugged.

"I don't know," he replied. "There must have been a spy. Can't trust anyone, as you well know. I think it would be best if we got out of here as fast as possible."

Joudain turned toward Zack.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye then. The captain'll get you safely to Mysteele,and will get you in touch with people who can help you there. Good luck."

"Thanks," Zack replied. "You take care of yourself, and that little girl of yours."

"I will," Jourdain said, then turned and hurried away.

"All right you sluggards," the captain called loudly, looking at the rest of his crew. "Let's get a move on. I want to be out of here in fifteen minutes."

The crew dispersed, scurrying away to attend to their duties. The captain looked at them once more.

"You just sit back and relax now," he said. "We'll take care of the rest." Then he hurried off after his men. A short time later they felt the boat pull away from the pier.

Zack sat down at a nearby table. Nipala came over to him.

"So what do we do now?" she asked.

Zack leaned back, put his hands behind his head, and propped his feet up on the table.

"There's not much we can do," he replied. "I suggest we take the captain's advice and sit back and relax."

* * *

"We need some rooms please."

The clerk looked up at the young woman who stood in front of him. She had long light brown hair and striking green eyes. A man with dark hair and a short goatee stood next to her.

"Certainly," he replied with a smile. "I just need to see some ID."

They both produced some papers which they handed to the clerk. He gave them a cursory examination and nodded.

"You're in luck," he said, handing the ID's back. "We've been awfully busy lately. If you would have come in yesterday we wouldn't have had anything available. As it is we've only got two rooms left today."

He turned to look at them.

"Do you want both of them, or just one?"

"Both, if you don't mind," Aeris replied.

"I don't mind at all," the clerk responded. He rummaged under the counter and then produced two room keys.

"That'll be one hundred gil."

Reeve paid the clerk and took the keys.

"Up the stairs and down the hall on the left," the clerk said helpfully.

"Thank you," Aeris replied.

Reeve looked nervously back at the clerk as they walked up the stairs, but the man seemed to be paying no more attention to them.

"Do you think he suspected anything?" he asked.

Aeris glanced back for a moment.

"I don't think so," she replied. "Vincent was right. In a big city they see strangers every day. As long as we have ID, ordinary citizens aren't going to be too concerned about us."

Reeve nodded.

"How did Vincent get these papers anyway?"

"I didn't ask," Aeris replied. "I have a feeling I don't want to know."

They reached the top of the stairs. Aeris turned left and Reeve followed her down the hallway until they found the rooms. They were across the hall from one another.

They went inside and looked around for a moment. Then Reeve turned to Aeris.

"Well, we've got the rooms, let's go find Vincent and Elena."

Aeris nodded.

They retraced their steps back out onto the street. They had arrived in Pangir a little less than an hour ago, just before dusk. It was a large city built on the curve of a river that ran down from the mountians to the south. They has seen troops along the main road into town, but they had simply avoided them by going around. They had found another narrow road leading in that was unguarded. Once in the city no one had seemed to pay much attention to them. In a city like this you passed people you didn't know every day. They had just lost themselves in the crowd.

Once here they had decided to split up. Even though they seemed safe enough for the moment, they didn't want to stay here any longer than was absolutely necessary. So, while Aeris and Reeve had gone to find a place for them to stay, Vincent and Elena went looking to find some sort of transportation.

When they had arrived the streets had been quite crowded, but now that night had fallen, the crowds had thinned out. The roads were still far from deserted, however. They walked down the street through an open air marketplace, most of whose shops were in the process of closing up for the night. They reached the place where Vincent said he would meet them, but there was no sign of either him or Elena.

Reeve looked around for a moment. There was a resturant on the corner opposite them.

"Are you hungry?" he asked, pointing to it. "We can get soemthing to eat while we're waiting."

"All right," Aeris agreed.

The resturant had tables outside on a wide veranda. They sat down at one which gave them a view of their meeting spot. The waitress came over and they ordered.

"I wonder where Vincent and Elena are," Aeris said. "I hope they're okay."

"Me too," Reeve replied quickly. "I wouldn't want anything to happen to them. I don't think we'd get very far without them. Although I have to say that I don't really like the way Elena's been treating you."

Aeris looked at him in surprise.

"What do you mean?" she said.

Reeve paused for a minute before answering.

"Well, you've got to admit she hasn't been very nice to you," he said slowly. "I don't think she likes you at all, and it kind of pisses me off."

Aeris did not speak for a moment. She was kind of surprised at him.

"But why would you feel that way?"

Reeve shrugged.

"Well, I don't see why she should be like that," he replied. "You've never done anything to her."

"You forget that Avalanche and the Turks have been enemies for a long time," Aeris replied. "Besides, I don't think she's been particularly mean to me, that's the way she acts toward everyone. That's the way she is."

Reeve looked at her and shook his head. Then he smiled.

"Let me ask you something, have you ever gotten mad at anyone?"

"What?"

"Have you ever said anything nasty about anyone?" he asked. "I've never heard you utter a bad word about anyone since I've known you."

Aeris seemed at a loss for words for a moment.

"C'mon," Reeve said. "There must be someone who pissed you off sometime of another. What about Sephiroth?"

"Sephiroth was driven mad by what Hojo did to him," Aeris replied. "It wasn't his fault."

"See!" he said. "You're not even mad at Sephiroth. Aeris, don't you remember what he did to you?"

"Yeah," she said slowly.

"Well?"

She just shrugged.

"What about Hojo?" he asked.

She thought for a moment.

"Hojo was not a very nice person," she said.

"Is that the best you can do?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"He's not a nice person? Don't you ever feel angry over what he did? Doesn't it make you furious?"

"Maybe," she replied. "But he's dead now. He's paid for what he's done, as much as he can pay. It wouldn't do me any good to get upset about it now."

He leaned back in his chair and stared at her. Then he smiled again.

"You're amazing," he said.

"Why?" she said, but couldn't help smiling as well.

He didn't reply, but just sat there shaking his head.

"Well, all I can say is, I'm glad you're with us," he finally said. "I don't think I'd be having much fun with just Vincent and Elena."

Aeris looked at him with just a hint of embarrassment.

"Well, thank you Reeve," she said. "I'm glad you're with us too."

"Really?"

"Yes, really," she replied. "You know, it might do you some good if you showed a little more confidence in yourself."

He shrugged.

"That's kind of hard to do when I feel like I'm way out of my league," he replied, looking at her carefully.

"But it's no different for any of us," she replied. "Not really. No matter what has happened before, this is all new to me as well."

"I suppose," he said slowly. "It's just that it's so different from when I controlled Cait. But I do think I'm getting better at it. Slowly."

"I think you are too," she said supportively.

Just then the waitress came over and placed their food on the table.

Every once in a while as they were eating Reeve looked up to see if there was any sign of Vincent or Elena, and though he saw no sign of them, he did eventually notice something else.

"I think that man is watching us," he said.

"Who?" she asked, almost turning to look.

"That man over there in the shadows of that building," he said.

She glanced over in the direction he indicated, trying to be discreet. She saw the man he was talking about. He stood in the entranceway to a small clothing shop across the street, just to the left of their meeting place. He was leaning against the doorway, looking down the road at the moment. Then she saw him look over at them. She turned away.

"How long has he been there?" she asked.

"Not sure," Reeve replied. He continued eating for a few minutes, glancing casually at the man every once in a while.

"He's definitely watching us," he said nervously. He still saw no sign of Vincent or Elena. Now he was suddenly worried that something had happened to them.

The man abruptly stepped into the street. He glanced at them one more time, then walked away rapidly.

"He's leaving."

Aeris turned to look. A moment later the man was gone.

She turned back to Reeve.

"What do we do now?"

Reeve did not reply for a moment. Were they just being paranoid? Maybe it had been nothing at all.

But could they really take the chance?

He stood up.

"C'mon, let's get out of here."

Aeris got up as well.

"But what about the others?"

"We won't go far," Reeve replied. "Just around the block. We'll come back and check later. I don't think it's a good idea for us to stay in one spot."

Aeris nodded. They paid for their dinner and walked down the street. Reeve felt uncomfortable. It suddenly seemed like everyone they passed was looking at them. For just a moment, sitting with Aeris, he had been able to forget that they were lost and being hunted in a foreign land. But now he suddenly felt more nervous than ever. In spite of how he felt about Elena he wished she and Vincent were with them. If it hadn't been for them, he and Aeris wouldn't have made it out of that first village.

They circled slowly around the block. As they came back to their starting point Aeris suddenly grabbed his arm.

"Look!"

She was looking at the resturant. The man they had seen stood on the veranda, talking to the waitress, two uniformed guards beside him.

They ducked back into the darkness provided by an overhang above a closed up fruit stand.

"So he was watching us," Reeve stated.

"It's a good thing we left," she said, looking at him.

"Yeah, but what do we do now?" he replied. "I don't think it's a good idea to hang around here, but how are we going to find Vincent and Elena?"

Aeris shook her head.

"I don't know," she replied. "Maybe if we come back later."

Reeve did not reply. He didn't like that idea at all. Someone had become suspicious, and who knew who would be watching the resturant from now on. Returning could just lead them right into a trap.

But what else were they to do? Vincent and Elena had no way to tell where they had gotten a room, and they had made no plans for a second meeting place in case something like this happened. Stupid, now that he thought about it, but it was too late to do anything about it now.

He looked over at Aeris. She didn't seem particularly worried. But then again, she never did. Just another thing he admired about her. What would they do if they couldn't find the others? Could they go on by themselves?

Did they have any choice?

The question was suddenly rendered moot when two figures materialized out of the darkness behind them. Reeve felt his heart race for a moment, until he recognized their two friends.

"We were afraid you had gotten caught," Vincent said.

"We thought the same about you," Aeris replied.

"What happened here?" Elena asked, looking back toward the resturant.

"I'm not sure," Reeve replied. "We were eating at the resturant when I noticed a man staring at us, but I don't know what is was that attracted his attention. He left and we walked around the block, and when we came back the guards were there."

"Good thing you left," Elena commented.

Reeve nodded.

"Did you find us a place to stay?" Vincent asked.

"Yes," Reeve said. He looked at Aeris.

"You don't think it was the clerk at the hotel that put them on our trail, do you?"

Aeris shrugged.

"I don't think so, he didn't act suspicious. Besides, how would he know where we went?"

"Let's hope not," Vincent replied. "Because if it was him then we'll be walking right into a trap if we go back there."

"So what do you suggest?" Reeve asked. "That we find another place to stay?"

Vincent looked at Aeris once more. She shrugged.

"I don't think so," he said. "We can at least go back and take a look. I don't know whether we'd be able to get a room anyplace else this late."

"What about you two?" Aeris said. "Did you find us any transportation?"

"There's a train leaving for Mysteele tomorrow morning at eight o'clock," Elena replied. "That might be the easiest way."

"But won't the trains be guarded?" Reeve asked.

"Of course they will," Elena said. "But unless we want to stay here forever, we have to try something. I don't plan on walking all the way to Mysteele."

Reeve did not reply. He and Aeris led them back to the hotel. They stopped outside and looked around, but they saw nothing unusual.

"I'll go check it out," Reeve said suddenly. He really wasn't all that happy with the idea, but it would obviously be foolish for them all to go, and since it had been he and Aeris who had gotten the rooms in the first place he realized he was a logical choice. Besides, he was afraid if he didn't go Aeris would have volunteered.

Steeling himself he walked into the hotel and looked around. The clerk they had seen earlier was gone, and the person there now only glanced up at him briefly. He went up the stairs and looked in one of the rooms. Everything seemed to be in order.

He returned to the others and reported his findings.

They followed him back into the building and up to the rooms. Reeve gave Vincent one key and opened the other door himself. Aeris walked into the room. Reeve hesitated, feeling suddenly awkward. She turned to look at him.

"Well, are you coming?" she said.

"Yeah," he replied after a moment. She disappeared into the room. He was about to follow when Elena grabbed his arm.

"You only got two rooms?" she questioned.

"Well, yeah," he said hesitantly.

"And she went along with that?" Elena said in surprise.

"They only had two available," Reeve replied, feeling suddenly embarrassed.

Elena looked at him for a moment, then smiled and leaned closer to him.

"Go get her, tiger," she whispered.

Then she turned and followed Vincent into the other room. She turned when she reached the door, winked at him, and then closed the door behind her.

He walked into the room, his face red. Aeris was standing by the dresser. He turned away, but she saw his look.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"N..nothing," he stammered.

She stared at him.

"It's just Elena," he said.

"Is she bothering you?" Aeris asked.

He shook his head and looked at her.

"Are you sure you don't mind sharing a room with me?"

She looked puzzled.

"Why would I mind?"

"Well, you know. The two of us, alone together for the night. People might talk..." he ended lamely.

"You mean Vincent and Elena?"

"Well, who else?"

She waved her hand in dismissal.

"Don't be ridiculous," she said. "What was I supposed to do, make you sleep out in the hallway? These were the only rooms available. Besides, there's two beds"

"Yeah, I know," he said, grinning sheepishly. "But still. I feel kind of uncomfortable about it."

"Well, you shouldn't," she said firmly. "Elena can talk all she wants. It's not going to bother me. I don't think we need to say anything more about it. Now I'm tired, I'm going to get some rest."

Reeve looked around.

"So, you want the bed by the window or the door?"

"Window," she said.

"You got it," he replied.

A short time later they both settled into their beds and Aeris turned off the light.

"Goodnight Reeve."

"Goodnight Aeris," he replied slowly.

He lay there in bed, staring up at the ceiliing as his eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness. Occasionally he turned to glance over at the other bed, but Aeris did not stir, and soon the soft rhythem of her breathing told him that she had fallen asleep. He could see clearly enough now to dimly make out the soft features of her face, and he couldn't help but think that this was the face of an angel.

He turned away and looked at the ceiling again. He would never have admitted it, but he had been secretly pleased when they were only able to get two rooms. Though they were lost in a strange land, and one false move could lead to their deaths, just being near her almost made him forget all that, almost made it worthwhile to him.

He was being an idiot, he knew. There was no chance that she would have even the slightest interest in him. But whatever the future held, they were together now.

He looked back over at her again. She looked so beautiful, and yet so vunerable too, but Reeve knew that was deceiving. She had great inner strength, and had proven in the past that she could take care of herself. Yet even so he made a vow to himself. No matter what it took, no matter what he had to do, he would look after her. She might not need one, but he would be her bodyguard. Even if he had to sacrifice everything else, he would do all that he could to see that she came out of this unharmed.


	6. The Promise

CHAPTER VI

THE PROMISE

"I'm not sure this is such a good idea."

"Would you relax," Reno replied. He stood bent over the lock on the door in front of them, fiddling with the small tool he had inserted into the keyhole. Tifa looked around nervously.

"Are you sure no one's home?" she said.

"Nobody answered when I knocked, now did they?" Reno said.

Tifa nodded.

"Yeah, but maybe they're in the bathroom or something," she suggested.

"You worry too much," he replied.

"Well, maybe I've got good reason," she replied. "Suppose someone comes out of the other rooms?"

"That's what you're here for," he answered. "If someone does, let me know."

"So I've got to be the lookout?"

He glanced up at her.

"Hey, you were the one who insisted on coming along. You might as well make yourself useful. Now be quiet a minute, I'm trying to concentrate."

She glared at him but did not reply. Then she looked back and forth down the hall. They hadn't seen anyone since they had entered the building. She sincerly hoped it stayed that way.

There was a click. Reno turned the knob and pushed the door open. He stood there for a moment, but nothing happened. Then he stepped into the room.

Tifa waited in the hall, hesitant to follow, but then Reno stuck his head out and looked at her.

"Well, c'mon," he said. "Get in here."

She walked into the room. Reno closed the door behind her and quickly disappeared into another room. She stood there looking around, hardly believing she was doing this. She was actually standing in some strangers apartment. She was half scared to death, and yet she felt a thrill of excitement as well.

She walked slowly around the room, looking around. The apartment was well furnished, but not extravagantly so. She stopped for a moment to examine half a dozen glass figurines on one shelf of a bookcase.

Reno glanced in from the other room.

"See anything useful?" he asked.

She turned toward him. He was holding something in his hand.

She shook her head.

"What have you got there?" she said.

"A sandwich," he replied, holding it up for her to see.

"How can you think of eating at a time like this?" she questioned.

Reno shrugged.

"I was hungry."

She stared at him for a moment. Now that she thought about it, they hadn't eaten all day.

"Are there any more?" she said.

"Help yourself," he replied, and disappeared again.

She walked into the kitchen and opened the rifrigerator. There were some cold cuts in there, and she took some out and made herself a sandwich. She got something to drink and sat down at the kitchen table. She still couldn't believe she was doing this.

Reno entered the room a short time later.

"So what did you find?" she asked.

"Not much," he replied. "About forty gil in the dresser in the bedroom. Some nice jewelry, but I don't think that would do us much good. By the way, the name of the city we are in is Dunlan."

Tifa did not reply. She wasn't too happy to be doing this, and had told Reno so before they had come here, but they really didn't have much choice. They needed the money, but there was only one other quick way to get it, and Tifa was not that kind of girl.

She stood up.

"So are we all done?"

"Yeah," Reno replied. "Let's get out of here."

They walked back into the living room, and were headed for the door when is suddenly opened. Tifa stopped in her tracks, staring at the man who was looking at them with pretty much the same expression she had on her own face. Her heart seemed to have suddenly forgotten how to beat.

"Who the hell are you?" Reno exclaimed.

"What do you mean, who am I?" the man said angrily. "Who are you, and what are you doing in my apartment?"

"What do you mean, your apartment?" Reno said accusingly. "You're not Mr. Harris."

"Who the hell is Mr. Harris?"

"The man who owns this apartment," Reno replied. "The man who told us to meet him here."

"I own this apartment," the man said.

Reno stood there staring at him for a moment.

"This is 212A Ventura Ave, isn't it?" he said.

"Yes," the man replied.

Reno turned to look at Tifa.

"That was the address he gave you, wasn't it?"

Tifa just stood there. Her heart was beating now, in fact it seemed so loud to her that she couldn't see how the others could not hear it. Now it seemed to be trying to make up for lost time. Finally she shrugged.

"Oh great," Reno said in exaspiration. "Don't tell me we got the wrong apartment! Didn't you write it down?"

She looked at him for a moment. Then she slowly shook her head.

"Wonderful," he said sarcastically. "I guess we'll have to go call him."

He turned toward the man.

"I'm sorry," he said. "We must have gotten the wrong apartment."

He walked over and grabbed Tifa by the hand.

"My wife must be a little confused," he said, turing back toward the man once more. "She just hasn't been herself lately. Under a lot of pressure you know, what with the job and the kids and all." He lowered his voice. "And the little drinking problem, but she's been going to her meetings, and we're not really supposed to talk about that. At least she doesn't get violent anymore."

He led her quickly past the man, who just stood there, looking at them oddly.

"Still, her memory just isn't what it used to be. I'll just take her home where she can get some rest." He turned to Tifa. "We'll just have to meet with Mr. Harris another time."

They were out in the hallway now. They walked quickly down it. Reno glanced back once. The man had stepped out in the hall and was staring at them. Then they turned the corner.

Tifa smacked him in the back of the head.

"Owww," he said. "What the hell was that for?"

"Violent indeed," she exclaimed. "Why did you have to say those things about me?"

"It was the first thing that popped into my head," he replied. "Hey, it got us out of there, didn't it?"

Tifa just shook her head. She would have never told Reno, but in truth she thought it had been pretty clever. When the man had walked in, she thought they were dead for sure.

They had walked on as they talked. Now they exited the building and started down the street in front of it.

"Do you really think he bought it?" she asked.

Reno shrugged.

"Well, it got us out of there, at least," he replied. "The story doesn't have to be that plausible, just enough so that it might be true, and most people will hesitate. But I don't think we should hang around here. Eventually he's going to wonder how we got into his locked apartment. And if he notices that money missing..."

Tifa nodded.

They had almost reached the end of the street when three patrol cars suddenly pulled around the corner in front of them and stopped. A man stepped out of one and looked at them.

"You!" he called. "Stop right there."

Tifa looked at Reno.

"I guess he noticed," she said.

"Damn, that was fast," he replied.

They both turned and ran back down the street.

Tifa heard a shot behind them and a bullet whizzed by her head. They looked ahead and saw another patrol car come around the corner that was now in front of them.

Reno wheeled around and ran into the nearest doorway, which happened to be a shoe store. Tifa was right behind him. A few startled customers looked up as they ran by. The owner yelled 'Hey' when they ran through a door marked 'Employees Only', but of course, they didn't pay any attention. They ran out the back door.

They were in a wide alley that ran along a loading dock at the back of the stores. To the left the alley ended in a high concrete wall. To the right they saw half a dozen guards running towards them.

They bolted straight across the alley into another building. This one appeared to be some kind of department store. They ran down the aisle, past a surprised stockboy. A man came around the corner just as they reached the end of it and Reno ran smack into him, knocking them both down.

Two guards were right behind the man. One of them reached down and grabbed hold of Reno.

Tifa came around the corner and kicked the man in the head. The other guard swung his fist at her, but she ducked under it and then struck him in the chin with an open palm. He jerked back and fell to the floor. Reno stumbled to his feet. He turned and pointed his nightstick at Tifa. There was a flash of electicity, and a third man who was coming up beside her hit the ground.

They turned toward the front door, but more guards were coming in that way. Reno looked around.

"Over here," he said.

He led her through a door and into a stairwell. He started up the stairs, Tifa close behind. She wasn't sure going up was such a good idea. She couldn't help but think they would have to come down again somewhere along the line.

They went up three floors. When they reached the top of the last floor there was a ladder that led up to a trapdoor.

Reno looked at it for a moment.

"C'mon," he said and climbed up She followed, but she was starting to like this less and less. In a few moments they were on the roof.

There was a large antenna in the southwest corner, but other than that, the roof was flat and featureless.

The trapdoor opened. Reno turned and kicked it closed. They heard a cry and a loud crash below them.

"What now?" Tifa asked.

Reno shrugged. He looked to the left. There was another building nearby. He ran over to the edge and looked down. He could see more guards in the narrow alley below. He looked across at the other building again. It didn't look too far.

He looked at Tifa and nodded at the other building.

She stared at him and shook her head.

"Oh no," she said slowly.

"Oh yes," he said, then turned and ran for the edge.

"Oh my God," she said as he leaped through the air. He landed easily on the other side, then turned to look at her.

"Hurry up!" he called.

She looked back. The trapdoor had opened again and she could see someone coming up onto the roof.

She looked at Reno once more.

"I knew this was a bad idea," she muttered.

She ran to the edge and lauched herself into the air. She made it easily, it really wasn't that far, but she made sure she didn't look down.

Reno grabbed hold of her to steady her when she landed.

"This way," he said.

She followed him though a door and then down another staircase. They ran through the building and back into the street again, and right into another group of guards.

Reno's nightstick flared. Tifa lunged to her left, then kicked one man in the side. Another tired to grab hold of her, but she twisted round and hit him in the face. A third tried to bring a gun to bear on her, but she grabbed his arm, twisted round and drove her hand into his elbow. She heard a crack and the man screamed in pain. He dropped the gun and stumbled away from her.

She looked over at Reno, who had just dropped another man. There was a second guard coming up behind him. She scooped up the gun that had dropped nearby and fired three times. The man turned to look at her.

Reno twisted round and gave him a jolt of electricity. Then he turned and glared at Tifa.

"How could you miss?" he exclaimed.

"Well, excuse me," she replied. "I'm trained with my fists, not with a gun."

Reno just shook his head. They ran down the street, but stopped when they saw more patrol cars.

"Here we go again," Tifa muttered. They couldn't keep this up forever.

They turned and ran back the other way. A guard on a motorcyle came racing around the corner ahead of them. Reno blasted him with his nightstick. The man fell off and the motorcycle skidded to a halt in front of them.

Reno looked back down the road. There were at least three patrols cars coming towards them. He ran over, picked up the motorcycle and hopped on. He looked at Tifa.

She ran over and jumped on behind him. She put her arms around him. He turned to look at her.

"Ohh, squeeze me tighter, baby," he said.

"Just shut up and go," she replied.

The engine sprang to life. Reno swung the bike around and roared off, the patrol cars in hot pursuit.

Tifa looked back. There were at least three cars behind them. In spite of the roar of the engine, she heard the retort from someone's gun. She ducked her head and held onto Reno. They were going a lot faster now, but she wasn't sure they were any better off.

They shot around a corner and saw traffic ahead of them. Reno did not slow down. Tifa held her breath as he sped between the rows of cars, missing them by inches. They raced across the road, against the red light. Tifa closed her eyes.

When she opened them a moment later Reno turned the bike sharply and drove into a narrow alley, nearly crashing into a couple of garbage cans. They came out the other side and onto another road, this one surrrouned by single family homes.

She looked back but no longer saw any sign of pursuit.

They drove on for quite some time. Tifa kept looking back nervously, but she saw no one. The houses around them became scarcer as they left the city behind. They rode on for about an hour before they felt confident that they had escaped.

Reno stopped the bike at an intersection surrounded by open fields. They could see a farmhouse down the road, but it was the only structure they had seen for some time. He shut off the engine.

Tifa stepped off the bike and strectched. She could hardly believe they had gotten away.

Reno got off the motorcycle and opened up the compartment in the back. He started rummaging through it. Then he pulled something out with a grunt of satisfaction.

"What's that?" she said, coming over to him.

"A map," he replied, unfolding it and laying it down on the bike. They both looked at it.

"Here's Mysteele," he said, pointing.

"Uh huh."

"And here's Dunlan," he continued. "Hmmm. Looks like we're only about thirty miles away."

"We could be there in no time," Tifa said excitedly.

Reno nodded. He looked around. The sun hung just over a low line of hills to the west.

"Yeah," he agreed. "But I don't think it would be a good idea to make a run there now. The roads are bound to be crawling with patrols. Let's find some place to hole up for the night. We'll figure out what to do tomorrow."

Tifa hesitantly agreed. She realized that what he said made sense, but she was anxious to get to Mysteele, especially now that she knew they were so close.

Reno hopped back on the bike.

"Hey, I want to drive," she protested.

He looked at her, and for a moment she thought he was going to argue. But then he grinned and stepped off the motorcycle.

"Fine," he said.

She got on and he slipped back on behind her. They drove over a low hill, headed towards the farmhouse. Reno had his hands wrapped around her waist. But as they came around a sharp turn they suddenly slid up higher.

She jerked one arm back, almost knocking him from the bike. She slammed on the brakes and hopped off. She turned to look at him, her face red with rage.

"You are such an asshole!" she shouted.

She turned and stomped off down the road.

He stood there looking at her for a few moments. Then he started off after her.

"Hey, it was an accident," he called. "My hands slipped when we hit that bump."

She ingnored him and continued walking.

He ran to catch up with her.

"Hey, c'mon," he tried again. "Can I help it if I find you irresitably attractive?"

She gave no indication that she heard him. He reached out to grab her but then thought better of it. Things hadn't gone so well the last time he tried that.

"C'mon Tifa, where are you going?" he said. "We've got to get back to the motorcycle and find someplace to hide. It's dangerous out here."

A wooden post and rail fence ran along the road here. Suddenly she stopped and sat down by the fence. Reno came up beside her and looked at her, but she just stared blankly at the road.

"Tifa!" he said.

Still she did not speak.

He stood there looking at her for a little while longer. Then with a sigh he sat down beside her.

"Tifa, this is stupid," he said.

"Get away from me," she said sullenly and turned away from him.

He sat next to her for a little while. He kept glancing back and forth down the road, but saw nothing. Still, he was starting to get nervous. They couldn't sit here all day.

"Tifa, let's go," he said. "Come on, we're never going to find your precious Cloud this way."

"Shut up, Reno," she said. "Just shut up!"

He looked at her, but she was facing the other way.

"Geez," he said.

He fell silent. The minutes dragged by, but still she did not move. He kept looking down the road, back and forth, then at her. He tapped his hands idly on his knees. The longer they sat there, the more likely it was that someone would come by.

"Well, I just don't understand what you see in him," he finally blurted out. "I don't understand how you can be crazy for a guy who's ingnored you his entire life! I mean, c'mon, it's pretty obvious he doesn't give a damn about you. I hate to say this, but I really think you should take the hint. You've known each other for what, twenty years now? Don't you think that if he cared for you at all he would have said something to you by this time? What, do you think he's just waiting for the right moment? When's that going to be, when you're both eighty?"

He stared at her, but she didn't move or speak, just sat there with her back to him.

"C'mon Tifa, wake up!" he continued. "He never cared about you. He's just stringing you along until someone else comes along, and then it's sayonara. Even coming here, he just took off without a word. Doesn't that tell you something? You've traveled hundreds of miles, almost drowned, and now you're being hunted down like an animal, and for what? For all you know, he doesn't even want you to be here. For all you know, he came here by himself just to get away from you."

He slid over closer to her, until he was right behind her back.

"He doesn't deserve you," he said softly. "That's been obvious from the start to the people who really do care about you. I just wish you would realize that. If you keep this up, I'm afraid all that's going to happen is he's going to end up screwing you and then dumping you."

A shudder ran through her body, and she bowed her head.

Hesitantly he reached out and touched her shoulder. She did not react. He sidled up next to her and slowly put his arm around her.

"It's about time you took a hard look and realized who your friends really are," he said.

For the first time she turned to look at him, and though there were tears in hers eyes, her face was expressionless.

"You're not my friend, Reno," she said slowly, taking his arm and removing it from her shoulder. "If I know anything at all, I know that. It's true, I don't know how Cloud feels about me, and I don't know why he left wtihout telling me, but that doesn't mean I believe the hateful things you've said. I don't know whether he loves me, but we'll always be friends, and he wouldn't treat me like that. To tell you the truth, I think it's pretty pathetic of you to suggest such a thing just to try to have a roll in the hay with me."

He looked shocked.

"Why I never would have suggested such a thing!"

"Please," she said. She wiped the tears from her eyes. "It's much too late to try the innocent routine with me."

He shrugged and looked down the road again.

"Okay, I'm pathetic, what can I say?" he admitted. "So can we get out of here now?"

"No we can't," she replied. "You have to do something for me first."

"And what might that be?" he asked, sure he wasn't going to like the answer.

"You have to promise me something," she said. "You have to give me your word as a Turk that you will not lay a hand on me ever again."

He looked at her for a moment.

"C'mon Tifa, you know I was just kidding around," he said.

"Promise!"

He sighed.

"All right."

"All right what?"

He signed again.

"All right, I promise never to touch you again. I give you my word as a Turk. Now can we get out of here?"

She looked at him carefully before answering.

"Yes," she said.

They both stood up and walked back to the motorcycle.

"By the way, did you really mean what you said back there?" Tifa asked when they arrived.

"About what?" he questioned as he stepped onto the bike.

"About me being irresitably attractive?"

He turned to look at her.

"Of course," he replied with a smile.

She hopped on behind him and he started it up.

"You are so full of shit," she said as they roared off down the road.

* * *

"As far as we can determine, the sub went down somewhere off the coast not far from here," Magnus said.

They stood on the beach looking out over the wind swept water. An endless line of white breakers rolled in at their feet. Except for themselves, the beach was empty.

Cloud looked out over the water, but all he saw was a few seagulls circling over the ocean in front of them.

"And you found no sign of them?"

Magnus shook his head.

"We scoured the beach, but we found nothing. The weather was rough. If they came up on the beach, their tracks would have been washed away. We know some strangers were spottted in a nearby village, so I think it's pretty safe to say at least some of them survived."

"A nearby village?" Cloud said. "Can we go there?"

"Yes, but it won't do any good," Magnus replied. "The town was destroyed by the Brotherhood."

"What?" Cloud said.

"It's not uncommon around these parts," Magnus continued. "The Brotherhood will use any tactics it can to strike fear into the community. A lot of smaller towns have been wiped out because they refused to cooperate with them. It's possible they may have even captured your friends."

"What would they do with them?" Cloud said, concerned.

"I don't think they'd kill them, at least not right away," Magnus replied. "They'll make valuable prisoners. I would think they would try to use them as a bargaining chip. But I don't really know."

"They may even try to recruit them," he continued. "After all, your friends don't know anything about this continent, they don't know how savage the Brotherhood can be, or what they've done."

"But wasn't it the Brotherhood who sank their ship?" Cloud asked.

"Yeah, but they may not know that," Magnus replied. "For all we know, the Brotherhood may tell them the government sank their ship."

Cloud did not respond. Things had gotten out of hand, and it was all his fault. He had agreed to come here, and by doing so accepted the risks. He hadn't wanted to drag his friends into it, however. But now they were the one's who were in danger.

The problem was that he was almost as much in the dark as his friends must have been. He really didn't know anything about the political goings ons on this continent. He had no way to judge what kind of danger they were all in. He didn't know anything about this Brotherhood. But now that he thought about it, he really didn't know anything about the government here either, or Magnus, or his father, for that matter. How did he know that anyone was telling him the truth?

"How did my father get here?" he asked.

"Huh?" Magnus said, seemingly surprised by the sudden change of subject.

"From what you've told me, you've tried to avoid contact with the other continents, and obviously you've succeeded, because no one I knew had ever made any mention of your existence. So how did my father get here?"

They had been walking slowly down the beach. Now Magnus stopped and looked out over the ocean.

"It was a long time ago," he said slowly. For a moment he just stood there looking thoughtful.

"There have always been a few ships from your shores that strayed upon us," he continued. "The waters to the north of our continent are notoriously stormy and unpredictable. A lot of times the ships that make it here are in bad shape, or are sunk off our shores. There have been may times that people from your continents have washed up on the shore here after one of their ships went down. Your father was one such person."

"It was during one of your many wars, I believe. I'm not really sure. It was a troop ship that got blown off course in a storm. The ship went down almost two miles out to sea. Your father was the only one to make it to shore."

Magnus turned and started walking slowly down the beach again, Cloud right behind him.

"It was a particularly bad time of year. In the autumn the storms are at their worst, and can rage on for days or even weeks. He was befriended by a nearby village, but no one was willing to risk the weather in a boat. He could not return."

"As it was we were fighting a war of our own at the time. To repay the villagers who had saved him, your father agreed to help them. He was pretty good with a sword, a trait he seems to have passed on, and fought well enough to be offered a postion of command. By the time the storms had died down enough he had risen up in the ranks, and had made a name for himself here. To go back would have meant starting over. It just didn't seem..."

He lapsed into silence. Cloud looked at him, but he just kept on walking, seemingly lost in thought. Suddenly Magnus turned to look at him.

"Well, for whatever reason, he stayed," he said abruptly. "He's been working for the government ever since. I know he wanted to go back. He told me many times. But he just never seemed to get the chance. He always wondered what happened to you, and your mother."

"My mother was killed by a man named Sephiroth," Cloud said with more than a trace of bitterness. "Nibelheim, my hometown, was destroyed. Almost everyone I knew was killed."

Magnus looked down at the sand.

"I'm sorry," he said.

Cloud shrugged.

"It had nothing to do with you."

He looked closely at Magnus.

"How well do you know my father?"

Magnus shrugged and fixed Cloud with his gaze once more.

"About as well as anyone," he replied. "He was always kind of a loner."

Cloud nodded but said nothing more. Magnus looked down the beach, back the way they came this time.

"Well, I've got to get back to Mysteele," he said. "There are just too many things I have to take care of, and we still need to find your father. As you can see, there's not much going on here. Are you going to come back with me, or do you want to stay here?"

Cloud thought about it for a minute before answering.

"Are you going back right now?"

"Not right this minute, but soon. If you want to stay and look around for a little while, and then meet me later, that would be okay."

"I think I'll do that," Cloud responded.

"All right then," Magnus said. "I'll see you in a little while. And don't worry, we're doing everything we can to find your friends."

Cloud nodded and Magnus walked away. He looked back once to see Cloud staring off into the ocean. He shook his head slowly and continued walking. He had just reached the edge of the forest when he saw a man standing in the shadows of the trees.

Magnus stopped dead and looked quickly behind him, but Cloud was no longer in sight. Then he took a few steps toward the man.

"This is not a good place for you to meet me," he said with a hint of anger.

"What happened at the warehouse?" the man asked calmly. "You were supposed to hand Cloud over to us."

Magnus hesitated and looked around, but there was no one else in sight.

"Someone must have suspected something," he said in hushed tones. "Kendal had his own men there. They surprised us. I was lucky to get out of there alive myself. One of your people must have turned on us."

"Everyone involved was trustworthy," the man said sharply. "We made sure of it."

"Obviously they weren't as trustworthy as you thought."

"How do we know it wasn't one of your men?" the man questioned sharply.

Magnus sighed.

"I guess there's no point in arguing about it," he said. "We'll just have to come up with another plan. It won't be easy though, Kendal is going to be even more on guard now that he knows the Brotherhood is after Cloud."

"Well, you better come up with something, and fast," the man replied. "Is Kendal anywhere near getting what he wants."

Magnus shook his head.

"They haven't even started," he replied. "They're playing it very carefully. They're doing everything they can to convince Cloud that they are his friends. They're handling him with kids gloves."

The man stood in silence for a moment.

"Very well," he said finally. "But we can't let him stay with them much longer. Ormando is getting nervous. He wants him out of their hands within the week."

"I don't know whether that can be done," Magnus said.

"It better be," the man replied sharply. "We can't take the chance that they'll find out what they want to know. He's valuable to both of us alive, but if we can't have him, we're going to make sure nobody does. Am I making myself clear?"

Magnus nodded, but he looked plainly unhappy.

"Yes," he said.

"We'll be in touch," the man replied, then he turned and hurried off into the woods. In a moment he was gone.

Magnus looked back toward the beach, but all he saw was the low line of dunes. For a moment he stood there, a troubled look on his face, but then a look of resolve hardened his features. He turned away from the beach and continued on his way. Whatever happened, he knew it was too late to turn back now.

* * *

Cloud walked slowly down the beach, back the way he had come. He kept looking around, hoping to see some sign, some clue as to what had happened to his friends, but the beach was empty.

"Cloud."

He turned to see Wisteria walking across the sand toward him. He stopped and waited until she came up beside him.

"Did you find any sign of your friends?" she asked.

"No," he said.

She looked at him carefully.

"You really care about them, don't you?"

He nodded.

"They're the only family I have," he replied. "The only real family," he added, thinking about his father.

She came closer and took hold of his hand.

"You look so sad," she observed. "Is there something I can do to cheer you up?"

He turned toward her. She was gazing at him with a sympathetic look on her face. He could smell her purfume.

He shook his head slowly.

"Not unless you can find them for me," he said softly.

They started walking up the beach, away from the water, still hand in hand. Magnus had been right, there was nothing he could do here. Whether he liked it or not, he was going to have to depend on other people to find his friends.

"I'm sure they're all fine," Wisteria said.

He did not reply. The water had disappeared behind them now, hidden by the dunes. Suddenly she stopped.

"Isn't there anything I can do for you?" she said slowly. "I know you're worried about your friends."

She was right beside him, but now she moved even closer, until her body brushed up against his. She looked into his eyes and smiled.

"I can't find them for you," she said slowly, "but maybe I can do something that will take your mind off them for a little while."

She slipped her arms around his neck. Then she leaned forward and kissed him.

He stood there motionless for a moment, then he gently pulled her arms down from around him. He stepped back and turned away, his face red.

She tilted her head and smiled again.

"Still shy?" she asked. "I told you I liked that in a man."

"I...I really don't think this is a good idea," he stammered.

"Why not?" she asked. "Don't you find me attractive?"

She looked at him and her smile faded.

"Or is it someone else?"

He didn't answer for a moment, but he suddenly realized she had given him a way to say no without hurting her feelings.

"Yes," he said.

She stood there for a moment, then nodded her head slowly.

"One of your friends on the ship?"

He nodded.

"If anyone came at all, it would be her," he replied.

Wisteria looked down at the ground and dug her toe into the sand.

"What's her name?"

For some reason Cloud felt a strange reluctance to tell her.

"What difference does it make?" he asked.

She looked back up at him. Then she smiled again and stepped toward him.

"I don't think there's really anyone at all," she said. "I think you're just playing hard to get. I warn you, I don't give up easily."

He looked at her as she stared into his eyes again.

"Her name is Tifa," he said finally. "Tifa Lockheart."

Wisteria did not reply, just stood looking at him for some time. Then she nodded.

"No wonder you look so worried," she said. "But I'm sure we'll find her."

"Thanks," Cloud replied, suddenly feeling greatly relieved.

"Okay," she said. "I guess we better head back now."

She held out her hand.

"I don't suppose this Tifa would object if you escorted me?"

He slowly reached out and took her hand.

"I suppose not," he said with a faint smile.

They walked back up though the dunes. Kendal had set up a command post in a beach house that stood in a small clearing among the trees. It only took them a few minutes to return to it. When they arrived Wisteria excused herself and quickly walked off. It didn't take her long to find Kendal. He was standing over a map spread out on the table in front of him, looking it over carefully.

"Kendal," she said softly as she came up behind him.

"Hmm," he replied, not turning to look.

"I have a favor to ask," she said.

He turned to look at her with a frown, but she just smiled sweetly at him.

"A favor," he said dubiously.

"Yes," she replied. She stepped closer to him. "I'll make it worth your while."

He didn't reply for a moment, just stood looking at her. He hated the fact that he could not resist her.

"What is it?" he said resignedly.

"When you find Cloud's friends," she said, still smiling, but now it had an evil look to it. "I want you to bring me Tifa Lockheart, and I want her alive."


	7. Yuffie's Revenge

CHAPTER VII

YUFFIE'S REVENGE

Barret ran through the woods, heedless of the branches that clutched at him and left long scratches on his arms and legs. His legs ached and sweat drenched his body. A blood soaked rag covered what was left of his right arm. Though the pain was nearly unbearable, he forced himself to ignore it. His heart pounded in his chest, and exertion was not the only cause.

He came out of the woods and saw Corel in front of him, or what was left of it.

There wasn't much. Some of the town was still burning, but most of it was just a blackened ruin. The smell of charred wood filled the air, as well as the stench of burning flesh.

He ran on, even faster now, though the smoke still lingering in the air nearly choked him. There were people still alive, he saw some of them, wandering seemingly at random down the streets, looking around as if in a daze. All of them shocked by the violent destruction of their once beautiful town.

He reached the street that held his own home, and finally he stopped. The entire block was just a smoldering pile of burnt timbers. He stood there staring for a long time, then slowly walked down the street, as much in shock as any of the others he had passed.

He stopped halfway down the block, in front of a pile of ruins that just yesterday had been his home. He stood there looking at the charred pile of rubble for some time, tears welling in his eyes. He looked around slowly. A man was walking back and forth nearby, his features blackened from smoke and soot, a long ragged cut running down his left leg. Barret almost didn't recognize him at first, but then he realized it was one of his neighbors.

"Harry," he said.

The man just stared at him blanky.

Barret stepped closer and grabbed hold of him.

"Harry!" he nearly shouted.

The man's eyes slowly focused on him.

"Have you seen Myrna?" Barret asked.

Harry shook his head.

"They're all gone," he said slowly. "Everyone, everything. All gone."

"Where's Eleanor? Marlene?" Barret questioned, but Harry just stared off into space.

"All gone," he repeated.

Barret dropped his hand and turned away. He walked slowly across the street, to the house opposite his own. Dyne's house.

He stood there staring at the remains. His house, Dyne's, the entire city. All destroyed. And it was all his fault.

He had trusted Shinra. He had told the townspeople that letting Shinra build a reactor here would be good for the town. He had convinced them, over Dyne's objections. And this is how Shinra had repaid his trust.

He looked at the blackened ruins. They had destroyed everything, the entire town, just because of an accident at the reactor. They had taken everything from him. They had killed everyone he loved.

He fell to his knees and cried out in anguish, pounding his fist on the ground. His body shook with rage. This was more than anyone could bear. Why hadn't they taken him too?

In spite of the horrible wound to his arm his spirit had driven him this far, but now even that was spent. He slowly sank to the ground, no longer able or willing to continue. Eveything and everyone he knew was gone, there was no longer any reason to fight.

"I'm comin to join ya, Myrna," he muttered.

He closed his eyes, and felt conciousness begin to slip away, but just as he hovered on the edge of fading away, a sound caught his attention.

It was the sound of a child crying softly.

He eyes opened, almost involuntarily. He lifted his head and looked around. It sounded like it was coming from the remains of Dyne's house.

He felt resolve suddenly return to him. He stumbled to his feet, even though it made him cry out in pain. He picked his way slowly through the wreckage of the house, listening carefully. Slowly the sound grew louder, until he could here it clearly right nearby.

He pushed some blackened timbers out of the way, and then he saw her, cuddled up into a ball amid the ruins.

"Marlene!" he cried out.

He swept her up with his arm, tears forming in his eyes once more.

"Marlene, you're alive."

Marlene wrapped her arms around his neck, her crying a constant wail now. He looked her over, she was covered with dirt and soot, but he could find no obvious injuries.

"It's okay, baby," he said soothingly. "It's okay, you'll be all right now."

She calmed down a bit at the sound of his voice, and her crying sank to a quiet whimper. He stumbled back out into the road, looking around. His will had returned when he had heard Marlene, but even that had it's limits. The long run through the woods, the acrid smoke that still hung in the air, and the loss of blood from the terrible wound to his arm, all combined to sap what little strength he had left. He felt his head spinning and the world seemed to be fading around him.

He saw someone walking slowly down the road toward him. With the last of his strength he staggered over, his eyes so out of focus that he could not tell whether it was a man or woman.

"Please," he said slowly. "Take care of the girl. Take care of Marlene for me."

He fell to his knees. He eased Marlene down beside himself and tried to look up again, but the effort to lift his head proved too difficult. Slowly he sank down to the ground as the world faded away around him.

"Barret!"

He shook his head and opened his eyes. Cid stood beside him, looking at him with an expression of concern mixed with puzzlement.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

Barret sat up and looked around for a moment. The early morning light filtered down through the leaves of the trees around them. He glanced down and saw that he was covered with sweat.

"Yeah," he replied slowly. "Just reliving some bad memories."

Cid nodded slowly.

"About Corel?"

Barret nodded.

"Yeah," he replied. "Apparently that village we passed through left an impression. How'd you know?"

"I though I heard you say Marlene's name," Cid replied.

"Yeah," Barret replied slowly. "Marlene."

He missed her more than ever.

He looked around.

"Where's Mosato?"

Cid motioned to his left. Barret turned and saw Yuffie sitting under a tree by a small brook not far away. Mosato sat on the grass nearby.

"Looks like Yuffie's found a new friend," Barret observed.

"Yeah," Cid said with a grin. "He has been following her around a lot lately. I suppose that's only natural. He's lost his whole family, everyone he knew, I guess, and she is a lot closer to his age than us old bastards. Although I shudder to think what kind of role model she would be."

Yuffie sat with her back to them, hunched over something in front of her, but they could not see what it was. Mosato sat to her left, not too close, be close enough to see the faint green glow of the materia she held in her hands. Yuffie was staring at it, her face a mask of concentration.

Suddenly she looked up. There was a small sapling growing by the stream in front of her. A wisp of smoke rose from the topmost branch, and for a moment they saw a brief flicker of flame, but almost immediately it disappeared, leaving only one leaf slightly scorched.

"Damn," Yuffie muttered in frustration. "Doesn't any of this stuff work?"

She dropped the fire materia into her poach and rummaged through it for a moment. Then she pulled out another orb. She sat there and stared at it. For a long time nothing seemed to happen. Then it slowly began to glow a faint red .

"Tidal wave," Yuffie said softly.

Tiny flashes of light appeared about her, and for a moment it looked as if she were surrouned by mulitcolored fireflies. Then somthing appeared in the air over the brook in front of her, a long snakelike creature about the size of a chipmunk.

The creature opened it's mouth and let out a high pitched squeek. A ripple of water flashed across the brook, splashing up onto the grass beside them.

Mosato laughed in delight.

"How cute," he exclaimed.

The creature faded away. Yuffie turned to look at Mosato angrily.

"It's not supposed to be cute," she said. "It's supposed to be big and dangerous."

She thrust the materia back in her bag in disgust and stood up.

"None of my materia works properly," she said loudly, looking back at Cid and Barret.

Barret just shrugged.

"Maybe our materia just doesn't work here," Cid said.

"Maybe," Yuffie replied. "I need to find some new materia and see if it works, then I'll know if it's our materia or something else."

"Well, I'm sure we'll run across some somewhere along the line," Cid said.

"Maybe you're not doing it right," Mosato suggested.

Yuffie turned to look at him sharply.

"What do you mean, not doing it right. Listen, kid, I've been using materia since before I could walk. I know how it works, all right."

"My father used to say that looking in materia was like looking down a well, you had to look deep down inside, and then, when you saw the bottem, you could release the materia."

"What are you talking about?" Yuffie said dismissively. "That's not how you do it at all. You have to visualize the result, and then concentrate on it, believe that it will happen."

"That's not what my Dad told me," Mosato replied.

"Well, what's your Dad know anyway?" she said harshly. Immediately she regretted it.

"Was your Dad in the village when..."

Mosato shook his head.

"He left us a long time ago," Mosato said slowly. "Soldiers came and took him away one night."

Mosato looked down at the ground.

Yuffie stood there, suddenly at a loss for words. She felt like kicking herself for being so insensitive. He was only a kid.

"Yeah, well, sorry kid..." she said lamely.

Mosato did not reply.

"C'mon, let's get going, you two," she heard Cid call out. "It's getting late. We shouldn't be far from Unthor now."

"Let's go," she said, glad for the interruption. She walked over and joined the others. Mosato followed silently behind.

Cid led them south through the tall pine trees. The forest floor was covered with a brown mat of pine needles beneath their feet. The ground sloped gently down to the left, and every once in a while Yuffie could glimpse the dark thread of the road winding through the valley below.

Not long afterward they came upon a grassy knoll, devoid of trees. They walked up onto it, blinking in the bright sunlight. The ground dropped away steeply beyond it, and down past the bottom of the slope they could see a sprinkling of houses that marked the outskirts of the city of Unthor.

Barret shaded his eyes and looked at the buildings below.

"Well, looks like we made it," he said. He turned to Mosato.

"Do you know where your Uncle's house is?"

Mosato nodded.

"Good," he said. "I don't think it would be healthy for us to go around asking directions."

"Let's go," Cid said.

They walked down the slope. When they reached the bottom the trees fell away and were replaced by open farmland. Mosato led them to the east along a narrow stream until they came upon an old wooden bridge. A dirt road ran along the creek on the other side. They crossed over and followed the road as it curved slowly to the south. There was open farmland all around them now, and Yuffie felt uncomfortable no longer surrounded by the trees.

"Do you really think it's a good idea to be walking around in the open like this?" she asked. "Suppose someone sees us?"

Cid shrugged.

"I don't really like it myself," he replied. "But I don't think we have much choice. Hopefully anyone who sees us will just think we're farmhands."

Yuffie did not reply, but the look on her face made it obvious what she thought of that idea.

They continued down the road, each of them keeping a watchful eye on the landscape around them. Eventually they did see a few other people, but they were working out in the fields, far from the road.

The sun was climbing high toward noon when Mosato suddenly pointed ahead.

"There's my Uncle's farm."

"Good," Yuffie exclaimed. "Now maybe we can get something decent to eat."

The road traveled in a wide curve to the south, around the fields, and quite a ways out of their way. Mosato hopped over the low fence along the road and headed straight for the farmhouse.

"C'mon," he said. "This way's quicker."

The others scrambled over the fence and followed him. There were four large buildings ahead of them. The one farthest away was the farmhouse itself. To the left stood two large barns. Cid could see a couple of cows and a small fenced area holding half a dozen pigs. To the right was what looked like a garage. There was a tractor pulled up on the side and two large wooden doors stood partially open in the front. He thought he could see a familiar outline in the darkness inside.

He ran over and took a look in. Barret turned back to look at him. The others were far ahead now.

"C'mon Cid," he said "The youngsters are leaving us behind."

Cid nodded and ran to catch up. He reached them just as they arrived at the front gate of the main house. Mosato ran forward and banged on the front door.

The door opened as the others came up beside him. A tall man in overalls looked at them for a moment, a frown on his face, but it was immediately replaced by a look of surprise when he saw Mosato.

"Mosato!" he said, looking totally bewildered. "What are you doing here. How...I thought you were dead."

"No Uncle Tybor," Mosato said. "I escaped. These people helped me."

For a moment Tynbor said nothing, but then he suddenly looked around, past them.

"C'mon in," he said hurriedly.

They all walked into the farmhouse. Tybor motioned for them to sit down. A woman came in from another room. She saw Mosato and just stood there in shock.

"Hi, Aunt Grace," he said.

"You're alive," she said softly.

"Yes," Tybor said. "We heard the village had been destroyed."

He turned to look at the others.

"How did he survive?"

Cid explained how they had arrived on this continent and what had happened to them.

Tybor nodded when Cid had finished, but he didn't say anything for a long time.

"Well, it seems like a miracle that you all made it this far without getting caught," he said finally. "I may know some people who can help you. I'll go see if I can get in touch with them."

"Grace," he said, looking up. "I'm going to go out for a while. Could you find something for our guests to eat, I'm sure they're hungry from their long trip."

The woman nodded and walked into the kitchen. Tybor excused himself and followed her in.

Barret sat back in his chair.

"Well, looks like we may have finally gotten a break."

"Let's hope so," Cid replied.

"I wonder what they have to eat," Yuffie muttered. She glanced into the kitchen. She could see Tybor and Grace standing by the sink, talking quietly. She could not hear what they were saying, but Tybor was moving his hands as if aggitated.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure it will be better than potato chips and soda," Barret said.

Tybor looked up at the sound of Barret's voice and noticed her. He glared at his wife, then turned and walked out of the room. Grace glanced at her, then turned away and started preparing their food. Yuffie walked back into the other room, a thoughtful look on her face.

"I suppose," she said.

Grace came back in a short time later and served them. The food was excellent, not that any of them would have been fussy. When they were finished Grace took away their plates and disappeared into the kitchen once more.

Cid and Barret sat at the table discussing what their next move might be. Yuffie sat there looking at Mosato, who was in a rocking chair on the far side of the room.

"You know," she said. "They really didn't seem that happy to see him."

Cid turned to look at her.

"What?"

"Tybor and Grace," she said. "They didn't seem all that happy to see Mosato. They thought he was dead, but there were no kisses or hugs. Just, oh, you're alive. How nice. It just seemed kind of strange to me. They seemed more nervous than happy."

"Mabye they're just not the affectionate type," Barret suggested.

Cid looked at her thoughtfully.

"So what do you think that means?" he asked.

Yuffie shrugged.

"I don't know," she replied.

Just then the front door opened and Tybor walked in, a distressed look on his face. Cid, Barret and Yuffie all looked in shocked silence as six Mysteele soldiers rushed in behind him.

Barret and Cid jumped to their feet.

"What the hell..." Barret exclaimed.

"Do not move!" the Commander of the guards shouted. They were all armed and had their weapons out. "The house is surrounded. You have no where to run. Surrender immediately!"

For a moment no one moved. Cid glanced over at his spear leaning against the wall. It was only a few feet away, but he knew that it might as well be a hundred miles. He could not possibly reach it before the guns trained on them cut him down. Yuffie was still sitting by the table, her mouth open. Her sherukin was at her side, but it would take her much to long to bring it into play. He looked at Barret, whose weapon was always handy, but who could not possibly get them all by himself. Finally he glanced out the window and saw other soldiers standing in the front yard.

It only took him seconds to come to the conclusion that they were hoplessly outnumbered.

"We surrender," he said sullenly.

Grace came into the room and without a word walked slowly over to stand by Tybor.

The Commander nodded to his men. They came forward to take the prisoner's weapons. Cid saw Yuffie's hand slip down by her sherukin.

"Yuffie!" he said.

She turned to look at him angrily. He slowly shook his head.

She gave a snort of disgust and stood up to let the man take her weapon.

"All right," the Commander said. "Bring them along."

One of the soldiers walked up to Mosato and prodded him to come along with them. Barret turned to Tybor.

"You'd turn in your own flesh and blood?" he said accusingly.

Tybor's face paled.

"We had no choice," he said. "They would have found out. They would kill all of us and destroy the entire village. Just like they did to Mosato's town. There is nothing we can do. He is already dead."

The soldier behind Barret prodded him along.

Barret walked forward, staring at Tybor the entire way.

"You make be sick!" he exclaimed as he was pushed out the door.

Tybor made no response.

There was a truck outside, and the prisoner's were led into it. Barret sat down beside Cid, still muttering curses. Yuffie and Mosato sat down opposite them. Two soldiers eased themselves down at the back of the truck, eyeing them cautiously.

They did not go very far. As soon as the truck stopped the soldiers in the back hopped out and motioned for them to do the same. They jumped down from the truck and were led into a large grey building that was obviously a jailhouse. They walked past guards and then were led into a large room with four holding cells. The Commander opened one up and motioned for them to enter.

They walked in and the Commander closed the door behind them. He locked it and turned away, but just as he did Yuffie reached through the bars and grabbed hold of him.

"Please don't leave me in here," she pleaded. "I'm claustrophobic. I can't stand being locked up. And besides, you can't leave me in here with these two," she continued, looking back at Barret and Cid. "One snores so loud it could wake the dead and the other one smokes like a chimney. I'll go crazy stuck in here with them!"

The Commander pulled away from her and looked at her as if she already was.

"Gee, I'd feel real bad about that," he said humorlessly. Then he turned and walked out to the room.

Barret came up beside her.

"What the hell was that all about?"

Yuffie grinned and held out her hand. In it was a small key.

Barret and Cid both looked at her in surprise.

"Damn," Barret said. "Yuffie, I take back half the nasty things I've said about you."

"That makes me feel so much better," she replied.

She reached through the bars by the lock, but Cid put a hand on her shoulder.

"Let's wait a little while untill things calm down a bit," he suggested.

She hesitated for a moment, not really pleased with the idea, but then she let her arms drop to her sides.

Cid sat down. Barret paced back and forth while Yuffie drummed anxiously on the side of the bunk with her fingers. They waited almost half an hour, which was as long as Cid thought either of them could stand.

Finally Cid stood up, listening carefully. Their had been a lot of activity when they first arrived, but now things seemed to have calmed down. He could hear nothing in the next room except the mournful wail of a country song on the radio.

"All right," he said. "Let's get out of here."

Yuffie jumped up immediately and walked over to the bars. She slipped her hands through and in moments the door was open. Cid walked out and looked cautiously into the other room. He could see the Commander sitting in a chair nearby. His back was to them.

Barret came up behind him. He must have heard something, for suddenly he turned around. He looked up and his mouth dropped open as Barret gun arm struck him on the side of the head. He fell to the ground.

Cid and Yuffie grabbed their weapons. Barret looked through the draws on the desk the Commander was sitting by and grunted in satisfacition when he came across the bullets they had removed from his gun.

Cid walked over to another door that led down a hallway to the entrance. He could here a murmer of voices.

"There's more still out there," he said.

Barret finished loading his weapon and held up his arm.

"Yeah, but this time it's our turn to surprise them. Let's rock and roll!"

They ran down the hall. Barret in the lead, with Cid behind him, and then Mosato with Yuffie bringing up the rear. They ran straight for the entrance. The first few rooms they passed they heard shouts of surprise, but a blast from Barret's gun turned them into screams of fear as the soldiers inside ducked for cover. A couple of men ran out into the hallway in front fo them, but were dropped by Cid's spear and Yuffie's sherukin. In moments, they were out the front door and in the street.

"What now?" Barret shouted as they ran down the road. Already he could see that the soldiers had gotten over their initial surprise and were starting to organize a pursuit.

"This way," Cid shouted. He led them off the road and out into a nearby field. They ran up a low hill, and then Cid turned left. He hopped over a low fence and ran toward a large cornfield.

Yuffie heard the sound of shots behind them. She increased her speed, and had actually gotten ahead of Cid and Barret when they plunged into the corn.

They ran on, concealed at least momentarily by the tall stalks that surrouded them. Cid took the lead once more, and they followed him as he went south, but Barret knew they couldn't hide here forever.

"Where are we going?" he said.

"To the last place they'll look for us," Cid responded. "If we cut across the fields it shouldn't take us much more time to get back there than it took them to bring us here in the truck."

"What do you mean?" Yuffie said. "Back where?"

"To Tybor's farm," Cid replied.

"What the hell do we want to go back there for?" Barret said in surprise.

"They have something we need," Cid responded.

They reached the end of the conrfield and once more found themselves in the open. Yuffie looked back but saw no sign of pursuit at the moment.

"And what might that be?" Barret questioned.

They hopped over another fence and crossed a dirt road.

"Transportation," Cid replied.

They ran out into another field covered with some kind of knee high plant that Yuffie did not recognize. Barret was about to question Cid further when Cid suddenly turned and looked down the road behind them.

"Get down!" he said sharply.

They fell to the ground. A moment later a jeep rocketed by on the road behind them. It did not slow, and as quickly as it had appeared, it was gone. They stood up again.

"Hurry up," Cid said.

They ran on, past two more fields and three more fences. Finally they saw the familiar buildings of Tybor's farm looming up ahead of them. Cid headed straight for the garage.

Yuffie saw the tractor parked outside.

"You're not planning on getting us out of here on that?" she exclaimed.

Cid ran up to the doors of the garage and pulled one open.

"No, this," he said.

They looked inside and saw a single engine propeller plane.

"Tybor must use it to dust his crops," Cid said. "I noticed it when we came by last time."

He climbed up into the cockpit.

"Let's hope it works."

Barret looked back toward the farmhouse. He saw a jeep pull up in front of it and some men pile out.

"Yeah, let's hope so," he muttered.

There was a loud whining sound. The propeller spun a few times, then stopped.

Cid started cursing.

The whining sound came again. The propeller spun. The motor coughed, then roared to life.

"Hop in!" Cid yelled.

Barret ran over and pulled the other door open, then he climbed into the plane, followed closely by Mosato. Yuffie just stood there looking at them.

"Isn't there any other way?"

Suddenly the wood in the door by her head splintered as a bullet embedded itself in it.

"C'mon," Barret shouted.

The plane jerked forward. Yuffie ran around the side. Barret was leaning over and grabbed her hand, then he pulled her aboard. She fell into the seat in the back beside Mosato.

The plane rumbled out into the open. Barret looked toward the farmhouse and saw half a dozen soldiers running toward them. He opened up with his gun and they scattered.

"Ha, take that, ya dumb..." he glanced back at Mosato and shut his mouth.

Cid guided the plane into the open field, slowly picking up speed. Even above the engine he heard a volley of shots from behind them, but they were pulling away now, and none found their mark.

Yuffie turned to look behind them.

"We're getting away," she said.

The soldiers had stopped running after them, seeing that they no longer had any chance of catching up. They were going very fast now, but the plane continued to bump along the ground. The field ended ahead of them with another of the ever present fences, and beyond that, a narrow river. It seemed to be approaching at an alarming pace.

Barret turned to look at Cid.

"Aren't we supposed to be going up?"

Cid did not turn to look at him.

"The plane wasn't meant to carry this many people," he replied.

Barret glanced ahead again.

"Which means..." he prompted.

"Well, we can't turn back now," Cid replied. "I'll give her all she's got and hope for the best."

"Oh great," they heard Yuffie exclaim behind them.

Cid did not reply, just kept staring at the river ahead with a look of grim determination on his face.

The fence was closer now, much closer, and speeding toward them much too quickly. The engine was giving off a high pitched whine that left Barret with the impression it would seize up at any moment.

The nose of the plane lifted up, but the back wheels still thumped along the field. The fence was seconds away now. Barret found himself saying 'up, up' under his breath. He thought he heard Yuffie saying the same thing.

The fence disappeared below them. The plane shuddered, and for a moment the nose dipped again, straight toward the water. Yuffie cried out, but then the plane lifted up. They skimmed just above the water for a moment, and then the ground fell away below them.

"We did it!" Barret exclaimed.

Cid broke into a grin.

"I didn't doubt it for a minute," he said smugly.

Barret looked back to see the farmhouses rapidly fading away behind them. Cid continued to climb for a while as he turned the plane slowly to the west.

"Next stop, Mysteele," he said.

"Well, just do me a favor and hurry up," Yuffie said, already starting to look pale. "I don't want to stay on this thing any longer than absolutely necessary."

"Actually, I'd like to check out what this thing can do," Cid said, giving Barret a wink. "I've heard you can do some pretty fancy stunts on these old propeller planes."

Yuffie leaned forward and gave him a withering look.

"Don't even think about it," she said menacingly.

Cid and Barret both laughed.

"Don't worry," he said more seriously. "Since you were so helpful back there in the jail, I'll try and fly us in a nice straight line."

"That's better," she said, sitting back in her seat.

Suddenly something streaked by the left side of the plane.

"Shit!" Cid exclaimed. He jerked his head around and looked behind them just as something much larger flashed by overhead.

"What the hell was that?" Barret exclaimed.

"It's a fighter plane," Cid said grimly. "They fired a missle at us. The dumb shit. It must have been a heat seeker, and this piston engine doesn't give off enough heat for it to lock on to. It he had come up behind us and used his cannon, we'd be toast by now."

The jet had flown by them and was now circling back around.

"That's great," Yuffie stated. "But what's to prevent it from doing that now?"

"Not a hell of a lot," Cid replied, watching the jet carefully. "We can't outrun it, and we cetainly don't have anything to fight it with."

The plane had completed it's turn and now was coming straight at them.

"So what do we do?" Yuffie said nervously.

"Well," Cid replied thoughtfully. "We do have one thing that they don't."

"And what's that?" she said.

Cid turned to glance back at her.

"The best damn pilot in the world," he replied. "Hold onto your panties!"

The plane dropped like a stone.

"Oh shit!" Yuffie yelled.

They heard the roar of the jet's cannon, but the shells streaked by above them through vacant air. Cid pulled them out of their dive just above the ground. To the right the land rose up in a long chain of mountains. Cid turned sharply in that direction.

"Barret, try to keep an eye on the other plane and tell me where it is," he said.

"It's coming right at us," Barret replied.

"Damn," Cid muttered. He brought the stick hard over again. The plane yawed and turned sharply to the right as they heard cannon fire again.

"Oh Gawd!" Yuffie moaned.

Cid took a moment to glance back quickly.

"He was closer that time," he observed. "He's learning. But he still doesn't know everything."

They were flying alonsgide the river now. The same river they had nearly flown into at the end of their takeoff. But now it was much wider. Ahead they could see a low bridge spanning it. Cid headed straight for it.

"He's coming around again," Barret said.

Cid did not reply. He dropped down lower. There were some boats on the river, and the people on board looked up at them in surprise. Yuffie thought they were going to take the mast off one boat, but they flew just above it. The bridge was much closer now.

"Un Cid," Yuffie said thickly, as if she was having difficulty speaking. "Aren't you going to pull up?"

He did not reply, just stared at the bridge ahead of them, and if anything the plane dropped lower.

"Oh no," Yuffie said faintly now that it was clear he was intent on flying underneath it.

There was a short burst of gunfire behind them, the the tailing plane pulled up. Yuffie held her breath as the dark underside of the bridge flashed by, then they were out on the other side.

Cid pulled back on the stick and they were pushed back in their seats as the plane climbed steeply. Then it quickly leveled off. Cid looked around. Now matter how good a pilot he was, he couldn't keep up this game of cat and mouse forever. Eventually he was going to run out of tricks. He had to find some way to shake the other plane. Not so easy when it could fly twice as fast. He scanned the ground below them, and eventually saw something that gave him an idea.

"Here she comes," Barret said.

Cid pulled the stick back even harder and the plane looped veritcally and plunged toward the earth once more. He heard Yuffie wimpering in the back.

He dove down, headed for the base of one of the mountains. Barret looked ahead and saw a line of railroad tracks below them. He followed them toward the mountain until they disappeared into a tunnel. Cid seemed to be headed straight for it.

Barret turned to look at him.

"You're not thinkin of going in there, are ya?" he asked.

Cid grinned and nodded.

"You bet your ass I am."

Yuffie leaned forward and looked ahead. The tunnel loomed quite clearly ahead of them now.

"Oh no," she muttered again and sat back in her chair.

The tunnel grew rapidly. Yuffie closed her eyes. When she opened them again a moment later the world had grown very dark. She could see the rock walls of the tunnel, they looked perilously close.

"Let's hope the landing gear wasn't damaged by hitting that fence," Cid said.

"You're going to land?" Barret asked in surprise.

"Yeah," Cid replied. "I've got a plan."

"We're doomed," Yuffied commented. "What if he follows us in?"

"What are you, nuts?" Cid replied. "Only an idiot would fly into a train tunnel. He'll go and wait for us on the other side. We'll be sitting ducks."

The plane touched the ground. They bounced down the tracks for a short way until they came to an abrupt halt.

"Everybody out," Cid exclaimed, jumping out of the plane. "C'mon, help me turn this thing around. Hurry! We can't take too long or he'll get suspicious."

The others jumped out as well. They grabbed the tail and quickly pushed the plane around until it was facing the way they had come.

"Back in!" Cid shouted.

They piled back in the plane. They bumped back down the tracks again, and just as they emerged once more from the tunnel the plane lifted into the air again.

"Okay," Cid said. "We're only going to get one chance at this, so we better make it work. He's going to be waiting at the other end of the tunnel. He's not going to be expecting us to come out this way."

He looked at Barret.

"I'll try and get us close enough to give you a shot at him."

Barret nodded.

"You're going to try to shoot it down with a handgun?" Yuffie said incredulously. "Why don't we just make a run for it now?"

"It wouldn't work," Cid replied, shaking his head. "It'll only be minutes before he realizes we're not coming out that way. There's no way we could get away in that time. This is our only chance."

Yuffie just groaned.

Cid flew the plane around the side of the mountain, not far above the ground. The jet would be circling by the tunnel exit. He didn't want to be spotted.

They flew past a low ridge, and then they saw it, just about where Cid had expected. He banked the plane, keeping it low to the ground. Odds were the pilot was concentrating on the tunnel exit, but he still had to be careful.

They followed the other plane, slowly coming up on it until they were almost directly underneath. Cid turned to look at Barret.

"You ready?"

Barret rested his arm against the side of the plane for support and took aim.

"Ready as I'll ever be," he said.

Cid gunned the engine and pulled the stick back once again. The plane climbed rapidly, coming up beneath and almost directly behind the jet.

There was a rapid burst of gunfire as Barret opened up. Cid pushed the throttle forward as far as it would go, trying to get as close as possible. For a minute that seemed to take a week to pass, the two planes seemed frozen in space, neither gaining nor losing ground to one another. Barret continued to pour ammo into the air, but it didn't seem to be having any effect.

Suddenly with a burst of speed the jet pulled away from them and shot up into the air. It turned and rapidly circled back toward them. But even as it did so Cid saw a trail of smoke coming from the fusilage.

"We hit it," he shouted. "We got it!"

The plane had circled round and was coming straight for them once more.

"It doesn't seem to be going down," Barret observed.

There was a blast of gunfire. Cid clenched his teeth and pulled the stick to the side. They dived once again, but this time the other plane followed. Cid could here the roar of the cannons plainly now, and suddenly he heard a cracking sound as bullets tore into one wing.

"We're hit!" he exclaimed.

He swung the plane sharply to the left and down again, corkscrewing around until they were upside down. Then he pulled the stick back and began to climb again. He looked around desperately.

"Where is he?"

Barret pointed to the left and down.

"There!"

Cid turned to look. The other plane was below them now. It had not pulled out of it's dive. The trail of smoke behind it was much thicker now. It slowly spiraled down, and Cid could see it was plainly out of control. The ground came up to meet it and it disappeared in a huge fireball.

"We got 'em!" Cid said triumphantly.

Barret was grinning beside him.

"We sure did," he agreed. "Now what was that about shooting them down with a handgun?" he continued, turning to look at Yuffie.

She was sitting there, he hands wrapped around her stomach. She looked at him with a nauseated expression on her face.

"Yuffie, you okay?" he asked.

She shook her head. Her face was a very peculiar shade of green. She leaned forward.

"Yuffie no!" Barret managed to exclaim, which almost but did not quite drown out the unpleasent noise she made.

"Ohhh YUCH!"


	8. The Betrayal

CHAPTER VIII

THE BETRAYAL

"Why do I feel like I'm the only one who's nervous?"

Aeris gave him a reassuring smile.

"You don't look nervous."

Reeve looked around. The train station was crowded, even this early in the morning. He saw two soldiers standing by a long counter not far away. They glanced over at him. He quickly turned away.

"Let's hope so," he said softly.

Reeve looked over at Vincent and Elena, who looked perfectly at ease, which didn't surprise him at all. They stood a few feet away, their backs to the wall, engaged in casual conversation. And though they did not seem to be paying any attention to the others around them, Reeve could tell from their occasional glances that they were watching everyone else in the room.

He glanced around himself once more. He didn't know what Vincent and Elena were looking for, but it seemed to him that everyone who looked in their direction was taking note of them. One man in particular caught his eye. He was standing amid a crowd of people by the ticket counter, but he was not on line. He was an older man, his brown hair flecked with grey. He wore dark casual clothes, not a business suit as so many of the other commuters around them. He seemed to be staring straight at them.

No, not at them, he realized. He was looking at Aeris.

Reeve turned toward her. She was just sitting there not looking at anything in particular.

"I think that man over there is looking at..."

Even as he spoke he glanced back, but the man was nowhere to be seen.

"What?" Aeris said.

Reeve did not reply for a moment, but stared at the ticket counter. He had only looked away for a moment. Where had the man gone?

"I thought someone was looking at you," he said finally. "It was probably nothing."

Reeve looked over at Vincent and Elena once again, but they showed no sign of having seen the man. He was probably just being paranoid again, he thought. Even if the man was looking at her, it could have been perfectly innocent. Was it really so much of a surprise for Aeris to attract a man's attention? But it did seem odd the way he just vanished like that.

There was an announcement on the speaker overhead, and suddenly Vincent stepped toward them.

"That's us," he said.

Reeve and Aeris got up and followed him and Elena over to the train. Two soldiers stood on either side of the doors watching everyone who entered. Occasionally they would stop someone and ask for papers. Reeve's hand involuntarily reached down and touched the pocket that held his. He felt a lump begining to form in his throat. He reviewed in his mind what he had memorized from the papers. Vincent had told him to say as little as possible if he was stopped. Well, he didn't think he would have a problem there. The way he felt now, he would be lucky if he was able to speak at all.

They walked in front of the guards and for a moment Reeve felt their eyes upon him. But then they were all past. Reeve breathed a sigh of relief as they stepped onto the train. They walked through the cars until they found one that wasn't very crowded and sat down.

It was almost an hour later that the train finally pulled out of the station. By that time the car they were in was quite crowded. He looked around again. Nobody seemed to be paying them any particular attention. They had gotten past the worst part. The best thing he could do now was relax.

He looked at Aeris, who sat beside him with a thoughtful look on her face.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked.

She shrugged

"Just about Cloud," she said slowly. "So far we've just been thinking about getting to Mysteele. What do we do once we are there? It's a big city, who knows how long it will take us to find him? I hope he's okay."

Reeve looked down at the ground.

"And the others," she continued softly. "Zack, Tifa, Barret. Everyone. We don't even know if they're alive."

There was a sadness in her voice that Reeve had never heard before. He looked at her, knowing that there really wasn't anything he could say, yet he found himself speaking anyway.

"I'm sure they're alright."

She gave him a rueful smile, but she did not speak. The truth was she missed the others much more than she let on. A feeling of loneliness had been growing in her ever since the sub had been sunk. It had come to her, in fact, off and on, ever since she had been a child. A feeling of being cut off from everyone. She felt it at times even when surrounded by her friends, but now it was especially strong. Even when she was with them, she was still separate. She was an Ancient, something she could not share with any of the others, no matter how close they became. In that way, she would always be alone.

Reeve looked at Aeris for some sort of response, but she seemed lost in thought. He looked around again, and suddenly he spotted someone at the other end of the car. It was the same man he had seen at the ticket counter. He was looking right at them.

He grabbed hold of Aeris arm.

"Look," he hissed, nodding. But even as he said it the man turned away and disappeared through the door at the back of the car.

"What?" Aeris said, startled.

"It was the man I saw at the train station," he replied. "I'm sure he was looking at us."

He stood up suddenly.

"I'll be right back."

He walked toward the back of the car. He saw Elena staring at him questioningly, but she didn't say anything.

He reached the next car in time to see the man walking through the back door of that one. He followed, speeding up. For all he knew, this could still all be perfectly innocent. The man had been in the train station, it could just be coincidence that they were on the same train. There were a lot of people going to Mysteele. But just the way the man had looked at them, or more specifically, at Aeris, made him feel it was more than that.

He didn't really have a plan in mind. Even if he caught up with him, he couldn't accuse him of anything. He certainly had no intention of drawing attention to himself by confronting the man. He really just wanted to see where the man was going.

He stepped into the next car. He looked around, but the man was nowehre in sight. He looked toward the back of the car. He could see a window in the door, and through it the long line of the tracks behind them. This was the last car.

Where could he have gone? He looked around slowly, but he did not see the man in any of the seats. He couldn't have just vanished.

He stood there for a few moments longer, until he realized that people were starting to look at him. He was tempted to ask if anyone had seen someone come in the car before him, but he decided that would probably not be a good idea.

He walked slowly back to the others. Aeris looked at him curiously when he sat down beside her again.

He told her what happened.

"He just disappeared?" she said when he had finished.

He nodded.

"Into thin air," he replied.

"Should we tell Vincent?" she asked, looking over at him and Elena, who sat in the seat across the aisle from them.

Reeve shrugged.

"What is he going to do? We don't know who this guy is. If he was working with the government why haven't they already come and arrested us? He'll probably just think I'm being paranoid, and I can't say that I blame him."

"So what should we do?" she asked.

"I don't know," he replied. "He's gone now, and he doesn't seem to have done any harm. Let's just keep our eyes open and see if we see him again. Maybe it really was just nothing."

She said nothing more, but Reeve could see from the look in her eyes that she didn't believe that any more than he.

* * *

Zack stepped onto the dock and looked around. There was a line of warehouses across the street, the skyline of the city rising up behind them.

A tan colored van pulled up by the dock, and three men stepped out. One of them nodded to the Captain, who stood on the deck of the ship they had just left. His return nod was barely perceptable.

The men walked over to Zack and the others. One of them stepped forward and extented his hand.

"I'm Dr. Lee," he said. "You don't know how happy we are to see you."

He seemed about to say more, but then he stopped suddenly, looking at Zack. For a second Zack saw surprise in the man's eyes, but it disappeared in a moment.

"C'mon," he said, recovering quickly. "I think it would be better if we got you out of sight."

He led them back to the van.

"I thought you guy's weren't supposed to tell us your names," Zack commented as they got in.

Dr. Lee waved his hand in dismissal.

"That's only for operatives out in the field," he replied. "It's for their own protection. If we get caught, they're not going to need to get my name from you. I'm already well know to the government, and in fact have been honored by recently being placed on their most wanted list."

Zack wasn't exactly sure just how much of an honor that would be.

The two other men with Dr. Lee got in the front, while everyone else sat down in the back. In moments they were under way.

Zack introcduced himself and his friends.

Dr. Lee nodded.

"Have you seen any of the others?" he asked.

Zack looked at him in surprise.

"How do you know about the others?" he asked.

"The government has files on all of you, though I don't know how complete they are. We don't have access to them, but we've found out enough. Spies on your continent identified everyone on board your ship before you even left."

Zack paused for a moment to digest this information.

"We haven't seen them," he said finally. "For all we know they may never have made it to shore."

"At least some of them did," Dr. Lee replied. "There have been scattered reports from all over the county. Six soldiers were killed in a small fishing village near where your ship went down. At least four of your friends were there. A couple of others caused quite a stir in Dunlan. Three were actually in custody in Unthor, but they escaped and shot down a jet to boot. Your friends seem to be leading the government on quite a chase. They appear to be very resourceful."

Zack nodded.

"Well, they are that, yes," he said. He paused for a moment. "Have you any knowledge of one particular girl, light brown hair, green eyes."

"Or another with brown hair and eyes," Rude said quietly.

Zack looked at Rude for a moment, but said nothing.

Dr. Lee shook his head.

"I don't have any details about individuals," he replied.

Red took a moment to add things up, then he spoke.

"Well, if your numbers are correct, it sounds like everyone survived."

Dr. Lee looked at him in surprise, but it passed in a moment. Zack was impressed with how quickly he recovered.

"I'm sure that is a comfort to you," he said slowly.

"What about Cloud?" Zack asked.

"Ah yes," Dr. Lee replied. "Mr. Strife is safely tucked away at the presidential palace. He is quite under government control at the moment. I'm afraid they have decieved him, but we are working on remedying that."

The van pulled to the side of the road and came to a halt. Dr. Lee looked out the front window.

"We have reached our destination," he announced.

He opened the back doors and they got out. Quickly he led them into a nearby building. They passed through a maze of corridors, until they reached a small room that Dr. Lee motioned for them to enter.

"I have to excuse myself for now," he said. "I need to inform Ormando of our arrival. Please make yourselves comfortable. If you need anything, just ask."

Zack nodded and stepped into the room. Dr. Lee walked quickly down the corridor. He went up two flights of stairs and entered a large room.

One man sat at a long table at the far end of the room. The table was strewn with papers, and he was poring over them as Dr. Lee came in. He looked up.

"Are they here?"

Dr. Lee nodded. He walked forward until he stood by the table. Ormando stood up. He was a large man, well over six feet. He towered over Dr. Lee.

"How complete were the government profiles of everyone on board that submarine?" Dr. Lee asked.

Ormando thought for a moment before speaking.

"Most of them were quite detailed," he replied. "There were only two that did not have much information. Zack and Nipala."

"I suspected as much," Dr. Lee replied thoughtfully, rubbing his chin. "If they had know I'm sure we would have found out."

"If they had know what?"

Dr. Lee paused for just a moment before answering.

"If they had know that the one called Zack was a member of SOLDIER," he replied. "If they had known that he too was infused with mako."

Ormando looked at him in surprise. Neither one spoke for some time

"This changes everything," Ormando said slowly.

Dr. Lee nodded.

"I would think so."

Ormando paced back and forth a few times, pondering this new information. Finally he looked at Dr. Lee once more.

"This could work out very well for us," he said. "Magnus said it would be difficult to get Cloud Strife out of their hands. But now it appears there is no need. In fact, it would appear that he now poses a different problem entirely. It seems to me that it would be in our best interest if Mr. Strife was disposed of as soon as possible."

Dr. Lee nodded slowly.

"Should we inform Magnus?"

Ormando looked down and tapped his fingers on the table.

"I don't think so," he replied, looking up suddenly. "Something went wrong at the warehouse. There's a leak somewhere. I think it would be best if we take care of this little problem ourselves."

* * *

In this run down section of Mysteele, the man in the immaculate blue suit stuck out like a sore thumb. One didn't have to be particularly observant to notice the garish nightstick, or the neatly polished shoes or gold chain hanging from one pocket. It was also clear from the overly loud conversation he was engaged in that he had had just a little too much to drink.

He strolled bligthly down the road, apparently unaware of all the heads that turned in his direction as he passed. He had a girl drapped on one arm. She wore a black miniskirt and tight t shirt. Probably a hooker, tonights little dalliance, a chance for the man to share a little of his wealth. Though if anyone had stopped to look in her eyes they would have seen not the vacant stare of most of the girls that walked the streetcorners in this neighborhood, but instead a smoldering watchfullness that signified a clear and alert mind. As it was, not many people had their eyes on that particular part of her anatomy.

Two men who had been sitting on the stairs in front of one of the many old tenement houses that someone had cloned down the entire length of the block stood up and started walking down the street behind the pair, following at a discreet distance so as not to be noticed. At first they merely followed the two, watching them carefully and weighing the possibilities. One could never be too careful these days. But eventually, when the couple started down a narrow alley, the pair behind them decided it was time to act. The increased their pace, and were within a few feet of the couple when the man glanced back and noticed them. Any reasonable person would likely have become nervous to see the two grim faced men coming rapidly behind them in the confines of the alley, but the man just smiled at them.

The two men stopped a few feet away.

"Hey pal, spare some change for a cup of coffee?"

Reno reached into his pocket and dug out a coin. He flipped it to the man. He turned back to continue on his journey but the man suddenly reached out and grabbed him by the shoulder. Reno turned back and saw the knife in his hand.

"Thanks a lot," the man said. "Now how about giving me the rest of your gil."

The other man produced a knife as well and waved it at Tifa.

"Just relax, honey," he said. "I wouldn't want to have to cut up that pretty face of yours."

Reno slowly shoved one hand into his pocket, looking at the men nervously.

"Sure, just don't hurt us," he said.

Casually he brought his nightstick up and suddenly the man standing in front of him was knocked backwards by an electric jolt. At the same moment Tifa kicked and the knife the man held in front of her went flying through the air. She pivoted and kicked again, driving her leg into the mans abdomen. As he buckled forward she brought her elbow down on the back of his head. He dropped like a stone.

Reno looked over at her.

"Easy," he admonished. "We just want to disarm them, not break their necks."

Tifa shrugged.

"Sorry."

Reno collected the men's knives, then checked them both to see if they had any other concealed weapons. By the time he was done the man he had shocked groaned and opened his eyes.

He looked up at Reno.

"What the hell did you do to me?"

"Never mind that," Reno said. "What do you know about the Brotherhood?"

The man just lay there looking at him for a long time.

"Who the hell are you?"

"That doesn't matter," Reno replied. "We need to find the Brotherhood. Do you know anything about them?"

The man's eyes narrowed.

"You working for the government?" he asked.

"If we were, we'd already have hauled you out of here by now," Reno replied.

"Yeah, I suppose so," the man said. He got slowly to his feet.

"What makes you think I know anything about the Brotherhood?" he asked.

"Let's just call it an educated guess," Reno replied.

The man looked at them carefully. Then he glanced back and forth down the alley.

"I may be able to tell you something, for a price," he said slowly.

"Hey, we let you live, didn't we?" Reno said sharply. "Maybe you'd like another taste of this nightstick. But this time you may wake up behind bars, if you wake up at all."

"You won't learn anything that way," the man replied, eyeing Reno's weapon.

"Not from you," Reno retorted. "But there's plenty of others in this neighborhood willing to try to relieve a drunk of his hard earned gil. You're not the first to have tried."

The man pondered this for a moment. The second man moaned and lifted his head.

"All right," he said. "There's a bar near here, over on 45th street. It's called Lance's Pub. I've been told that the bartender knows the type of people you're interested in. If you drop by there around, say, eight tonight, he may be able to arrange a meeting for you. I'll tell him you're coming."

Now it was Reno's turn to look closely at the man. Finally he nodded.

"Tell him we'll be there," he said. Reno took Tifa by the arm and they walked away. The man turned and stooped by his accomplise, who was now sitting up, holding his head.

"What happened?" he said.

"Nothin," the first man replied. "We've come up empty for now, but I think that might change soon enough. I have a feeling we might soon be splitting a substantial reward. C'mon, we've got to go make a phone call."

Tifa looked at Reno after they were back on the street.

"Do you really think we can trust them?" she said skeptically.

Reno shrugged.

"Hey, if you can't trust a theif, who can you trust?" he replied. "We had to do something, didn't we? We don't know anyone here. We don't know how to get in touch with the Brotherhood. We had to take a chance. I didn't hear you come up with any better suggestions."

Tifa fell silent. She wasn't happy with the situation, but she knew he was right. They had to get in touch with the Brotherhood somehow. There was not much they could do on their own in a strange city.

They walked rapidly down the road, heading north, and soon they reached a part of town that wasn't quite so run down, thought it still wasn't anything to write home about. They had rented rooms in one of the hotels in the area, the ID papers they used the spoils of an earlier run in with some other would be muggers. It was already dark by the time they got there. When they reached their rooms Reno turned to look at her.

"You hungry?"

"Yeah, a little," she replied.

Reno opened his door.

"C'mon in," he said. "I'll order room service."

She looked at him for a moment.

"All right," she replied. "But no...well, you know."

Reno raised his hands and looked at her innocently.

"Hey, I haven't forgotten."

She walked in and sat down on the bed. Reno closed the door and went over to the phone. He called room service and placed their order. Then he put the phone down and looked at her.

"You know, it really isn't necessary for us both to go tonight."

She looked at him and frowned.

"Much as I hate to say it," she replied. "But we're in this together. Besides, I thought you trusted him."

"I learned a long time ago never to put too much trust in anyone," Reno replied. "The more I think about it, the more I realize how foolish it would be for us both to go."

"So what are you saying?" she asked. "That I should go by myself?"

She saw just the faintest hint of a smile at that.

"You know what I'm saying," he responded.

Tifa shook her head.

"You're not leaving me behind," she said adamantly. "This is just another of those macho things again. You men are all alike. You think you have to protect us helpless little girls from the worlds dangers. Well, I don't need any man's protection, especially not yours. We share the dangers, and that's the end of it!"

Reno looked as if he wanted to argue, but the look on her face must have made it obvious that it would be useless. Finally he shrugged.

"Suit yourself."

There was a knock at the door. Reno walked over and opened it. A man stood outside with their food. Renot took it and placed it on a counter in a small vestibule by the door, then paid the man. Tifa heard the door close as Reno picked up the food once more.

"Are you sure you won't change your mind?"

She sighed.

"Reno, you don't strike me as being the protective type."

"Well, there's a lot of things you don't know about me," he replied. "Maybe if you took the time to know me better, you'd find out that I'm not such a bad guy after all."

She looked at him skeptically.

"I think I already know you well enough," she responded. She really didn't feel like discussing this with him.

"Can we just eat?"

"Yeah, sure," he said. He brought the food in and placed it on a small table in one corner of the room. They sat down and ate in silence. When they were done Reno sat back with a contented sigh. Then he looked at Tifa.

"You know, the other day with the motorcycle? The things I said? Well, you were right, some of those things might have been said to gain favor with you. But not all of it. Some of it was the truth, I mean, besides the part ahout you being irresitably attractive."

She rolled her eyes.

"Of course,"she said.

He looked at her carefully.

"He really dosen't deserve you."

She looked at him and shook her head slowly.

"Reno, I..."

"Just think about it for a minute, okay?" Reno intterupted. "Let me ask you sonething. If it was you who had run off, do you think he'd do this for you? Do you think he'd chase you halfway across the world? Do you think he would go through all this to find you?"

Tifa sat in silence for a moment. Then she leaned forward and looked straight at him.

"Yes he would."

Reno sat back in his chair and looked at her skeptically.

"I guess some people never learn," he said.

He shrugged and stood up.

"Looks like you're just one of those people who has to find out things the hard way, but don't say I didn't warn you," he said. "Well, I'd love to stay and chat some more, but I've got a little rondevous to go to. I'll meet you back here when I'm finished."

She looked at him angrily.

"I told you we're going together," she said.

She stood up, but suddenly the room seemed to be moving of it's own accord. She brought her hands up to her head.

"Not this time," she heard Reno say.

She looked down at her drink, although she found it hard to focus on it. Then she turned toward Reno.

"You drugged me?!" she said accusingly.

He shrugged.

"It's your own fault," he replied. "You wouldn't listen to reason."

"Damn you!" she cried and lunged toward him. But even as she did she felt her legs giving out underneath her.

Reno grabbed hold of her as she slumped to the ground. He lifted her up in his arms, then walked over and laid her down carefully on the bed. He picked up his nightstick, which had been propped up against the wall nearby. He walked over to the door, then turned to look back at her.

He started to turn away but stopped. He could see a glimpse of white beneath her skirt.

He stood there looking at her for a long time. Then he slowly stepped back across the room until he was right beside her. He looked down at her face. She lay there unmoving, completely helpless.

Again he stood there staring at her. Slowly his hand came down and brushed lightly against her cheek. She really was beautiful.

His hand dropped down lower, slowly to the side of the bed, then he picked up the edge of the blanket and folded it over her, covering her legs.

He turned and walked back toward the door, a rueful smile on his face, and all the way wishing that he had been clever enough to somehow weasel out of making that promise.

It didn't take him long to find the tavern. At least the man hadn't lied about that. It was perhaps half full. No one gave him more than a cursory glance when he entered. He slowly made his way over to the bar. It took a while for the bartender to notice him. When he did he walked over and looked him up and down.

"You the guy from the alley?"

Reno nodded.

"You fit the discription, but he said there would be a girl too."

"She decided to stay home," Reno replied.

"Too bad," the man replied. "Heard she was quite a looker. They're upstairs, first door on the left."

He jabbed his finger in the direction of a doorway beside the bar.

Reno walked over and found himself in a short corridor with a flight of stairs in front of him. He walked up and entered a narrow hallway. He opened the first door on the left and stepped in.

There was a table in the center of the room. A man was seated behind it. There were six other men in the room. Three standing on either side of the door. The man who was seated looked at him for a moment.

"Where's Tifa?" he asked.

Reno realized with a sudden sinking feeling that they had never mentioned their names to anyone.

One of the men stepped behind him and closed the door, then stood in front of it.

The man in front of him sat back in his chair, a smile on his face, the kind of smile a cat has when the mouse is cornered in front of it.

"She couldn't make it. She had to wash her hair."

For just a moment Reno saw a flicker of anger in the man's eyes.

"That's very unfortunate," the man said, montioning to a chair by the table.

"Sit down."

Reno slowly eased himself into the chair.

"I really wish you had brought the girl along. It would make things so much simpler. For both of us. You see, we really don't have any interst in you, Reno. Yes, I know your name, and the names of everyone that was with you. I also know about your little organization. The Turks, I believe you are called."

Reno said nothing, just looked at the man, his face expressionless.

"My name is Kendal," the man continued. "I'm the finance minister for the government, among other things. I'm really surprised you made it this far, considering the effort that the government has put into finding you. But I'm afraid that your ignorance of the customs of this country have finally caught up with you. You see, the criminal element in Mysteele is under my personal supervision. Either they report to me, or they do not survive for very long. I'm afraid you put your trust in the wrong people."

Reno glanced around briefly at the others. He still had his nightstick, but there were just too many of them.

"Now it turns out that my government is very keen on capturing this girl you had with you. So you can see it's a problem for me that she didn't come along. I don't suppose you would be kind enough to tell us where she is?"

Reno sat there for a moment as if giving it some thought.

"I don't think so," he said finally.

"Come, come," Kendal replied. "I'm sure we can come to some kind of agreement on this. Like I said, I know all about you, and the Turks. And I must say, I feel a certain kinship. You and I are a lot alike, I think. We both do what needs to be done without getting emotionally involved. Neither one of us are adverse to doing rather unpleasnet things if the need arises... and if the price is right."

Reno did not answer for a long time. He sat back in his chair, tapping his nightstick lightly against the ground.

"You're asking me to betray a friend," he said slowly. "That's a costly thing. A very costly thing indeed."

Kendal leaned forward and looked at him carefully, the thin smile reappearing on his face.

"Well, I am not without my resources," he replied. "Every man has his price, now doesn't he?"

Now Reno leaned forward as well, a matching smile on his face.

"Let the negotiations begin."

* * *

Tifa opened her eyes and looked groggily around the room. She sat up as her head slowly cleared, and when she remembered what had happened she felt her rage returning.

Damn him! When she caught him, oh was she ever going to let him have it. How could he have done this? This was exactly something that Cloud would have done. Why were all men such assholes?

She got off the bed and looked at the clock. Reno had been gone over two hours. Could it possibly have taken this long? It would be just like him to run off and get himself in trouble. Damn!

She started for the door, but hadn't taken more than a step or two when the door suddenly burst open and three men rushed in.

The first man went to grab hold of her, but she dodged out of the way and kicked him in the stomach. She ducked under the second man. The third got a hold of her, but a knee to his groin quickly loosened his grip. She ran past them and out into the hall. A quick glance to the left revealed three more men headed rapidly in her direction. She turned and ran to the right. There was an open window at the end of the hallway.

Kendal was surprised when he saw Tifa burst from the room. The two men with him ran after her, but she had enough of a start that he thought they would not catch her before she made it out the window and onto the fire esccape. He pulled a materia orb out of his pocket and looked down at it.

Tifa was just a few feet from the window when suddenly it was as if a fist had struck her, only inside her head. She stumbled and crashed to the ground, banging heavily into the wall, and for the second time that day, she felt herself slipping into unconciousness.

Kendal shoved the stun materia back into his pocket. He walked over to where Tifa lay and looked down at her, a satisfied smile forming on his face. They had led a merry chase, these friends of Cloud, but it looked as if their luck had finally begun to run out.


	9. Surprise, Surprise, Yet Another Person B

CHAPTER IX

SURPRISE, SURPRISE, YET ANOTHER PERSON BENT ON WORLD DOMINATION

The harbor of Mysteele was not particularly crowded this time of day. Most of the fishing boats were still out to sea, and would not return until the sun had sunk below the horizen. Even so, there were still plenty of dockworkers as well as tourists and other passerby's wandering the street beside the wharf.

Magnus walked slowly down the street, his eyes sweeping back and forth, glancing at everyone he passed and then discarding them, until his eyes fell on a woman standing at the side of the pier looking out into the harbor.

He walked up until he stood directly behind her. He remained there for a long time, just looking at her back. She was standing by a wooden piling, a line of which ran along the street here, the dividing line between solid ground and the sea. Her hands rested lightly on top of it. Her blonde hair cascaded down around her shoulders, glinting in the late evening light.

"Lenore," he said softly, a trace of a smile on his lips. Even after all these years he still felt that twinge of excitment just uttering her name.

She turned, a look of surprise in her grey eyes that melted away the moment she saw him, to be replaced by a warm smile.

"Magnus," she said. "You're back."

"I came in a few days ago," he said slowly. "I would have told you sooner, but things have been rather hectic."

Her grey eyes looked at him over carefully.

"So he's here then?"

Magnus looked around quickly, but no one was near. He turned back toward her and nodded.

Neither one of them spoke for some time. She had a questioning look in her eyes, but whatever thoughts she held behind them, she kept to herself.

"And some of his friends," Magnus said finally.

"What do you mean?" she asked, a puzzled look on her face.

"Some of his friends followed him in a submarine," he said grimly. "It was sunk off the coast."

Her eyes widened.

"At least some of them survived," he said quickly. "They've been stirring up trouble all over the county. They've managed to elude capture so far, but I'm afraid it's only a matter of time. I didn't anticipate this."

He looked down at the ground for a moment.

"I should have listened to you," he finished.

He lifted his head to look at her, searching her eyes for some sign of reproach, but all he saw was sympathy.

"What's done is done," she said slowly. "You chose the route you thought best from many difficult possiblities. But what happens now?"

He smiled and took her hand. They started walking slowly along the pier.

"I don't know," he said finally. "Things have gone to hell pretty quickly, and it's all my fault. It was my idea to bring him here in the first place, and that was bad enough. I should have realized that someone might follow him."

Magnus stopped walking and looked thoughtfully down the street. There were two men loading some crates onto a truck nearby, but he wasn't really paying any attention. It wasn't like he hadn't known what kind of risks he was taking. He knew very well that Cloud might not survive this, that in fact he himself might not survive. He had been willing to accept that. It was unfortunate that Cloud had been brought into this unwittingly, and now his friends as well, but Magnus just had to harden his heart and get on with it. Things had gone too far to turn back now, or to have any second thoughts.

"I will try to help him and his friends as much as I can, but I can't allow that to interfere with what needs to be done. We'll just have to go on and hope for the best."

He looked at Lenore beside him, saw her looking up at his face. Saw the questions in her eyes, the questions he knew she would not ask.

No, he would not regret his actions, not even if Cloud or any of his friends were to die. At least, even though they might know it not, they would die in an effort to prevent a war. If he could only succeed.

He stood there for a long time, looking into Lenore's eyes, while she remained umoving beside him. There were thin lines on her face now, the only mark of age upon her, but even these did not diminish her beauty.

He reached out and caressed her cheek gently, and was rewarded with a smile.

And he would succeed, the thought. They had fought one war long ago, and she had nearly lost everything. He would not let that happen again. Nothing, no one else mattered to him. If he had to sacrifice Cloud and all his friends to obtain this he would do it. He would do it all for her. Only for her.

* * *

Captain Tremaine looked up as the young man rushed into his office. He was one of a network of boys the Captain used to get messages to and from the many informants they had criss crossing the city. He had found that young boys seemed to be particularly suited for this chore, being both enthusiastic and unlikely to draw suspicion.

"Yes?" he questioned.

"Four people fitting the description of the foreigners who escaped from Unthor have been spotted near an abandoned building on Salinor Street."

The Captain sat there motionless, the look of surprise disappering from his face almost the moment it appeared.

"Very good," he said in obvious dismissal. The boy turned and hurried from the room.

Captain Tremaine stood up, a grim smile slowly forming on his lips. This was certainly interesting news, and welcome too. He was an ambitous man, a fact that he had never tried to hide. He was proud of the fact that he had made Captain at a younger age than anyone else in the cities history, and he certainly had no intention of stopping there. He had heard rumors that these spies from the other continent were headed for Mysteele, and he had secretly hoped for something like this to happen, especially after he had heard that Kendal had already set up a trap for some of them in another district. A trap that was being sprung at this very moment. Which also was good news. With Kendal occupied, he would be too busy to come and take command of this foray. No, they would have to depend on Captain Tremaine to capture these spies on his own, which would be quite a feather in his cap.

He walked out of his office, the smile still on his face.

This could turn out very well for him indeed. The only thing he had to worry about was that this might be a false alarm. Which would be disaapointing, but would, after all do no real harm.

"Lieutenant Chisholm," he called. "Get the men together, we've got a little job to do."

Still, he was an optimist, and the sources the boy was in contact with were usually reliable. He had a real good feeling about this. He could smell a promotion in the air. The possibility that they could fail never even entered his mind.

* * *

Cid sat by the window, looking outside thoughtfully while puffing on one of his ever present cigarettes. Barret sat nearby, but Yuffie and Mosato where nowhere to be seen.

They had landed the night before in a small field not far from the outskirts of Mysteele, then had made their way on foot into the city. They had stumbled upon this building through blind luck, and had holed up here for much of the day.

Though Cid looked relaxed, the truth was he was troubled. They were in Mysteele, but what were they to do now? They didn't know anyone here, they didn't know where Cloud was, and they had no identification if they were confronted. They had stayed inside for most of the day because of this, but they couldn't just sit here forever. They had to come up with some kind of plan.

Cid glanced over at Barret, who had paced and grumbled all day, wandering around like a caged tiger. Cid couldn't think of anyone he would rather have beside him in a fight, but thoughtful consideration and planning were not exactly Barret's forte. Give him a weapon and a line of enemies and he was in his glory, but he would be of no help at this point.

And as for Yuffie, well, just the thought of asking for her advice made him shudder.

No, it was obvious to Cid, even without the looks the others had given him, that it would be up to him to come up with something.

Unfortunately, at this point, he had no idea what that something would be.

Barret stood up and stretched. He had only been sitting for about ten minutes. He looked over at Cid.

"What are we going to do about Mosato?" he asked.

Cid was a little surprised by the question. He hadn't really given much thought to the youngster. Actually, he hadn't given any thought to him at all. That bothered him a little, now that he thought about it, but he had to admit they had bigger problems. But it didn't surprise him that Barret was worried about Mosato. Once again Cid wondered how his perspective would change once his own child was born.

He shrugged.

"I guess he comes with us for now," he replied. "I'm not really happy about it but there doesn't seem to be much else we could do, short of abandoning him. Actually he might be better off without us, but I can't think of anyplace we could leave him in safety. He already told us he doesn't know anyone in Mysteele."

Barret looked unhappy, but he said nothing more about it.

"If only there were one person here we knew we could trust," Cid mused. He removed the stub of the cigarette from his mouth and flicked it out the window into the darkness outside. As he did so he noticed half a dozen figures moving quickly toward the building. He stood up and grabbed his spear. Barret perked up, immediately noticing his actions and the grim look on his face.

"Looks like we might have some company," Cid muttered.

They stepped quickly out into the hall, just as two men appeared at the other end of it.

Cid heard a shot as the other men opened up, but then any sound was drown out by the return blast from Barret's gun. Cid turned and they ran rapidly in the other direction.

Cid had been thinking of trying to find Yuffie to warn her, but the gunfire would certainly make that unnecessary. Yuffie was on her own now, they had to worry about their own skins. He angled down the corridors toward a door that led out into a back alley. Hopefully their enemy had left it unguarded. Belatently he wished they had ageed on someplace to meet later on if something like this occured, but the truth was he just hadn't thought of it. Some leader he was turning out to be.

They entered a large room that looked like it may have been a lobby. A curving staircase led up to a hallway that ran along the second floor on their left. Ahead of them was the entrance to a short hallway that Cid knew led to the door he was looking for. He turned to look back, and though he could hear pursuit he did not see anyone. He looked ahead once more and slammed on the brakes as half a dozen men emerged from the hallway he was heading for, the hallway that led to the exit.

Barret nearly ran right into him when he halted. Stumbling to keep his balance he brought his gun up, but even as he did so a dozen men ran out onto the balcony above them, all bringing their guns to bear.

Cid turned to look behind them and saw that the men that were following them had caught up as well. They were completely surrounded.

For a moment they all stood there motionless. Then one of the men on the balcony started down the stairs toward them.

"Drop your weapons," he said evenly. "It's over."

Cid looked at the man, then glanced around once more. He sighed and dropped his spear. They were caught...again.

Beside him Barret lowered his arm.

The man on the stairs came down until he was standing in front of them.

"Where are the others?" Captain Tremaine asked.

Cid paused for a moment before answering. Where the hell was Yuffie?

"Probably long gone by now," he replied.

The Captain looked at him, a thin smile on his face.

"Unlikely," he said. "I'm sure they're skulking around here somewhere. We'll find them soon enough."

He had read the reports from Unthor. Two men, a girl and a young boy. The two men were the one's he had been concerned about, and here they were, safely in his hands. He didn't think the girl or the kid would pose much of a threat. He turned to the man beside him.

"Lieutenant, make sure every room is searched carefully. I want them all. We'll show Kendal he's not the only one who can catch spies."

"What do you mean?" Barret said abruptly.

Tremaine gave them a superior look.

"Kendal was informed earlier of two more of your little crew wandering around the city. I have to admit that I find your foolish attempts at infiltrating pretty pathetic."

Cid bit back a sharp retort. He could see Barret was shaking with anger.

"All right," Tremaine said. "Get them out here, and find me the others!"

Two soldiers came up to lead them away, but just as they approached there was a thump from behind the counter that looked like it must once have been a reception desk. Tremaine's head snapped in that direction. He held up his hand for the men to stop, then motioned for the lieutenant to go around behind the counter. The other men readied their guns.

Yuffie looked at Mosato angrily. They were both wedged under the counter behind the desk. Mosato's leg had gone numb and he had shifted it just slightly to try to get his weight off of it, and in doing so his foot had slipped off the ledge it was on and banged against the counter.

Yuffie had hoped that they would not notice the sound, it had not been very loud, after all, but the sudden silence made her suspect otherwise.

She reached into her poach and withdrew a materia orb.

The lieutenant reached the end of the counter. He cautiously looked around behind it. There was no one there, but he could see there was a great deal of space under the counter.

Yuffie heard a scrapping sound at the end of the counter. She stared at the matieria orb, concentrating fiercely, focusing her mind. The orb should have blazed with light, but it barely flickered. All she saw was the faint glimmer of light that had produced the stunted version of her summon spell by the brook earlier.

She glanced up and saw someone's legs from under the counter. She also saw Mosato staring at her.

She looked back at the materia. Focusing her mind again, but this time looking into the orb differently. Look into a well, Mosato had told her, look deep into it until you could see the bottem.

This had better work.

For a moment nothing happened, but then she saw the glow begin to brighten, and she felt the power infusing her. Suddenly the orb shone like a beacon in her hands, and she jumped up triumphantly from behind the counter as everyone turned toward her.

"Tidal wave!" she cried even as they brought their guns to bear.

And suddenly it was there, towering over their heads where Yuffie had stood, the great turquois sea beast. With a scream of rage that rang in their ears, it called forth it's wall of water. And even before it came down upon his head, Tremaine realized that he wasn't going to get that promotion quite as soon as he'd anticipated.

In seconds it was done, the room going deathly silent.

Yuffie turned to see Mosato looking at her with wonder in his eyes.

"Big and dangerous," she said. "That's more like it."

Yuffie turned toward Cid and Barret, who were the only one's left standing. The others were scattered across the floor, most completely still, but a few groans and feeble movements showed that some had survived, barely.

Tremaine was one of them. He lay on the floor nearby, one leg twisted and bent in a direction a leg does not normally bend. Barret stepped over and looked down at him.

"The others," he said grimly. "Where are they?"

Tremaine slowly lifted his head to look at him. Though he barely seemed to realize where he was, his voice was surprisingly strong when he answered.

"Go to hell."

Barret brought his gun arm brutally down across the man's face. He slumped to the ground. Barret turned toward the lieutenant, who lay nearby, also badly hurt, but concious and watching them carefully. Barret pointed his arm at the man.

"At the Grafton Hotel on Sherbrook Boulevard, on the west side of town not far from the water," the man blurted out, talking so fast he almost stumbled over the words. "A man and a woman. The man has red hair and a blue suit, the woman was a brunette wearing a black skirt."

Barret looked at Cid.

"Reno and Tifa," he said.

Cid nodded.

"Let's move!"

They ran through the short hallway and then out the exit into the alley beyond. Cid led them around to the front of the building.

"There might be more of them there," Barret warned.

"You're probably right," he replied. "But they won't be expecting us."

The reached the street out front. They could see a couple of jeeps parked down at the corner, a man standing near them. Cid ran straight for him. The man looked up at them, but in the dark he didn't realize who they were until it was too late. Cid stepped past the fallen man and hoped into the jeep. He crouched down to look under the steering column, but then realized the keys were in it.

"Let's go," he said, looking at the others.

Barret grinned fiercely and hopped in behind him, Yuffie and Mosato following. In seconds the jeep was roaring down the street.

One of the few things Cid had done since they arrived was study the layout of the city. They had seen maps posted near bus stops at a few streetcorners when they had arrived, and Cid had taken the time to look them over carefully. It didn't take him long to find Sherbrook Boulevard.

Cid brought the jeep to a screeching halt in front of the hotel. They quickly piled out and ran inside. The manager was standing by the door when they came in. He glanced out and saw the jeep. He took a step back and looked at them in dismay.

"Not again," he said. "If you're looking for the others, they were upstairs in room 215. But I think they are gone now."

Cid rushed past him without a word, the others close behind. He ran up the steps, taking them two at a time, then down the hall. The door to 215 was ajar.

He stepped into the room, looking around quickly, spear ready. Reno was lying on his back on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

Cid came up beside him. Reno turned toward him, looking at him blearily, barely registering his presence. His jacket was gone, his shirt untucked and disheveled. He held a bottle of liquor in his right hand, almost empty. Another stood on the night table beside him. That one was empty.

He looked at Cid and his eyes slowly focused.

"I failed her," he muttered.

Barret was beside Cid in a moment. He looked down at Reno, instantly realizing the state he was in. His eyes filled with rage.

"Where's Tifa?" he said angrily.

Reno looked around for the source of the new voice, but he could not seem to find it. He looked back at Cid.

"They've got her," he said, barely understandable. "They wanted her, for some reason. They took her. I told them where she was. I was weak. They..." he looked back up at the ceiling.

"I was weak," he repeated.

"What happened here, Reno," Barret demanded, his voice urgent, and filled with anger. "What happened?"

But Reno just stared at the ceiling.

Barret reached down and grabbed hold of him, pulling him up roughly by the collar.

"You sold her out, didn't you?" he said, his voice thick with accusation. "You gave her to them to save your own skin. You son of a bitch!"

Barret brought his gun arm up. Reno just looked at him, making no attempt at resistance. But suddenly Cid reached out to stay Barret's arm.

"Hold on," he said. He was looking at the bed where Barret had lifted Reno up. It was stained red.

He bent down and looked closer.

"Damn," he muttered. He reached forward.

"Help me get his shirt off."

Barret eased Reno back down, the anger fading from his eyes. The removed Reno's shirt. The back of it was soaked with blood. Reno just lay there mumbling incoherently. They turned him over.

"Oh God," Yuffie said, coming up next to them.

Reno's back was a red mass of twisted flesh.

"Yuffie, we need a cure materia," Cid stated.

"Yeah," she agreed, reaching into her pouch, her hand trembling. She brought it out and concentrated on it. In a moment it glowed a bright green.

Cid saw a shimmering green light run along the crisscrossing wounds on Reno's back. When it faded the wounds had closed.

Barret leaned forward again.

"Reno, what happened?" he said, but there was no anger in his voice this time.

Reno stared at him, and for a moment they did not think he would respond. But then he spoke, and his voice seemed a little bit stronger.

"We tried to contact the Brotherhood, but it was a trap. I drugged Tifa so she wouldn't go..."

"You what?" Barret exclaimed.

"I was afraid it was a trap," he continued. "When I got there they tried to talk me into telling them where Tifa was. I went along for as long as I could to buy time. I was hoping she'd wake up and escape before they got there. Eventually they caught on that I was just playing for time and resorted to more direct methods."

Reno turned away again.

"I tried not to tell them. I couldn't..." he shook his head slowly.

"I was weak," he said yet again.

Cid patted him reassuringly on the shouler. Never in his life had he thought that he would ever feel sorry for this man.

For a moment no one spoke. Cid looked at Barret and saw him struggling with his feelings as well.

"Who is the Brotherhood?" Cid asked.

"Some kind of underground organization," Reno said, his voice fading at the end. He closed his eyes.

"Why did they let you go?" Yuffie asked suddenly.

Reno opened his eyes again, and suddenly he started to laugh. It was so sudden, they all just looked at him in surprise.

He stopped laughing abruptly and grimaced.

"I'm a warning," he said. "They let me go to tell you to get out of town. They've got what they want now. They told me to tell you all that they will not bother you anymore if you stay out of the way."

He closed his eyes once again.

Yuffie seemed about to ask another question, but a look from Cid cut her off.

"I think it might be best if we let him rest," he said slowly.

They walked over to the other side of the room. Cid looked at them all carefully.

"Do you think he's telling the truth?" Barret asked.

Cid nodded slowly.

"I think he's too drunk to make up any elaborate stories," Cid replied. "The question is, what do we do now?"

"We've got to rescue Tifa," Barret said immediately.

"I agree, but how?" Cid replied. "We don't know where they're holding Tifa or Cloud. I'm afraid we're not any better off now than we were before."

"What about the Brotherhood thing that he mentioned?" Yuffie asked.

"I don't know," Cid said. "It sounds like they may be able to help us, may be our only chance, in fact. But how do we contact them? Reno tried it and look what happened to him."

"I don't know what to do," Barret weighed in. "But I do think we should get the hell out of here. They came here to get Tifa. They know where this place is. They could be watching it right now."

Cid looked around, suddenly realizing just how true Barret's words were. He walked back over to Reno, who seemed to have fallen asleep.

"Well, we've got one of our little company back. Maybe the others are not too far away either. Barret, give me a hand with Reno. It's time to hit the road once again."

* * *

Cloud had just reached the top of the stairs in the Presidential Palace when he heard someone call his name. He looked back to see Gram coming toward him. The President, Vice President, Cloud wasn't sure what his exact title was at this point, was smiling broadly, yet for some reason it did not strike Cloud as being a friendly smile.

"I need to speak with you," Gram said coming up to stand beside him.

Cloud looked at him but said nothing.

"Come," Gram said with a nod of his head. "I have something to show you as well. It's very important."

"All right."

Gram led him down the steps and turned left.

"I'm afraid we've haven't been completely honest with you," Gram said as they walked. "There is more going on here than meets the eye, but I have a feeling that I can safely tell you the truth now."

Cloud said nothing, but just followed along behind. He had a feeling he wasn't going to like what he was about to hear.

"Your father was never a member of our government," Gram said. "In fact, he was never on this continent at all. It was all a fabrication made up by Magnus."

He looked at Cloud, measuring his response. He had to admit the young man took it well. He saw only a glimmer of anger flash in his eyes.

"To what purpose?" Cloud asked.

"To get you here, of course," Gram replied. "You see, the people have been safe here for a long time. We have spent all this time building up our strength, and now we are very strong indeed. The people here are the finest in the world, unsullied and uncontanimated by lesser races from the other continents. We have kept ourselves pure. But we cannot remain hidden forever. Eventually we are going to have to interact with the others, it is inevitable. And what will happen then?"

He paused, but he really didn't seem to be waiting for a reply.

"Contamination," he continued. "A merging of our peoples, with the watering down of our superior genes. Once it starts there will be no stopping it, and we will end up weak and inferior, just like everyone else from your continents."

Cloud looked at Gram to see if he was deliberatly trying to provoke him, but the man seemed perfectly serious.

"And I cannot allow that to happen," he went on. "It would be a repudiation of everything I've lived for. The merging of our peoples is inevitable, but the method can still be controlled, and the method is everything. Our continent and the others must meet, but to think we would meet as equals would be preposterous. The only proper way for us to be received is as a conquerer."

They were still walking as they talked. They were now in a section of the palace Cloud had never seen before.

"Do you understand that that could be the only proper way?" Gram asked, and now he sounded like a teacher trying to reason with a wayward child. "We are the naturally superior people. It is our nature and our right to rule all the inferior races, over all of the other continents. We have built ouselves up for this express purpose, we have hidden ourselves away for the time when we would be strong enough, and then when the time was right we would reveal ourselves in a sudden unstoppable onslaught. We are near that point, but we are not there yet. We are a numerous people, but we still do not have the population of the other continents. We are still greatly outnumbered. Our soldiers may be superior to yours, at least to your ordinary ones, but there are still not enough of us, and there may not be for some time to come. I am afraid we will not have a large enough army when the time comes to reveal ourselves, and I'm afraid we must reveal ourselves soon, or we will be discovered. I cannot produce more soldiers out of thin air, but there may be a way to make the ones we have stronger. A way to make them strong enough to offset your superiority of numbers."

Cloud looked at him grimly.

"You want to infuse them with Mako energy."

Gram nodded.

"We have many spies on your continents. We followed the progress of the SOLDIER program very carefully, but security around that project was always high. We could never get a man in to get a look at the reseach. To tell you the truth it caused quite a panic here. We knew we could never defeat you if you decided to create an army of these people."

"Fortunately that did not happen. The scientists who created the program were killed, and the entire project was ended after the fall of Shinra. A bit of luck for us, you could say, but we still didn't have the secret ourselves. Since we couldn't get the scientist or the research we decided to do the next best thing."

"You went looking for someone from SOLDIER to kidnap and bring here," Cloud said.

"Entice," Gram responded. "Not kidnap. You did come of your own free will."

"Led here by a lie," Cloud replied.

"The details were not up to me," Gram said. "I just requested that they get you here. It is regretable, but necessary. We are going to have to perform some experiments on you. Some of them may be quite painful, I'm afraid. But there really is just no way around it. You may be damaged, you may even die, but you can take comfort from the fact that your sacrifies will be used to the greater glory of all the people of the southern continent. You will be a hero."

Cloud laughed at that. He couldn't help it. He could no longer contain himself. But it was a laugh without humor.

"And if I refuse?" he said, his hand straying toward his sword. There had to be some reason they were telling him this now.

"I don't think it will be necessary for you to resort to violence," Gram replied. "Remember, I have something I wanted to show you. Please come and take a look before you do anything rash."

They seemed to have been walking endlessly through a maze of corridors, but now Gram stopped and motioned to a set of double doors set in the hallway to the right. He looked at Cloud expectantly.

Cloud walked through the doors. It seemed to be some kind of observation room. It held a few chairs and table, with a vending machine next to the door. The far wall held large windows that looked out and down upon another room that seemed to be some sort of laboratory, or some kind of operating room. He could see Kendal standing below wearing a lab coat. He stood beside a gurney and Cloud suddenly felt a lump form in his throat when he saw the figure strapped to it. She was motionless and her eyes were closed.

He turned to look at Gram, who had followed him in, and for the first time there was rage in his eyes.

"What have you done to her?"

Gram held up his hand.

"Relax, Mr. Strife, your precious Tifa is unharmed. But I'm afraid it is up to you as to whether she stays that way."

Cloud stood there looking at him, and Gram could tell that he was weighing the odds.

"You cannot save her," Gram stated. "The gurney is attached to a power soure. With a flip of a switch Kendal can sent enough voltage through her to kill her in seconds. You couldn't possibly get down there in time."

Cloud didn't reply for quite some time.

"What, exactly, do you want me to do?" he asked.

"Just cooperate with the experiments," Gram replied. "We need to discover how to infuse someone with Mako. We're hoping to use your body to figure it out. If we succeed, and you still live, both you and any of your friends will be free to go."

Cloud said nothing. That didn't sound particularly reassuring, even if he could believe it, which was unlikely considering Gram's track record. Once again he cursed himself for not letting his friends know what he was doing, for not warning them somehow, for their stubboness at following him.

He looked down at Tifa one more time. She appeared to be sleeping peacefully. He wanted to go down there and hold her so badly it made his temples ache.

_Why did you have to follow me?_

He turned away.

"All right," he said.

Gram nodded. There really had been no other alternative. He saw the fire had faded from Cloud's eyes, but they still smoldered. The man was still dangerous, and he would have to be watched carefully.

"Very well," Gram said. "We will start tonight. Kendal will be along later to tell you what needs to be done."

Gram turned abruptly and without another word walked out of the room.

Cloud stood there for a long time looking down at Tifa. He walked over to the window and slowly ran his hand along the glass, as if he could reach out to here from there. He shook his head, then slowly turned and walked out of the room.

He made his way back to the main entrance. He was deep in thought, not really paying much attention to what was going on around him. He would go along with what they wanted, but that didn't mean he wouldn't try to get them both out of there if the chance presented itself.

He reached the bottom of the curved staircase and slowly started up.

It was a polished brass knob at the top of the staircase that saved him. As he walked past it, his head bent, he happened to see the distorted reflection of the man behind him, a man who pulled something out of his shirt and lifted it above his head.

Cloud dodged to the left as the knife descended. He felt a sharp pain along his left arm. He swung around, grabbing the knife hand and twisting. The man stumbled to the ground, but held onto the knife. Cloud leapt back and drew his sword as the man sprang at him again, making no attempt at defense. Cloud's blade drove straight into his chest. But to Cloud's amazement, the man kept coming, pushing himself down the length of the sword that had impaled him. His knife came up again.

Cloud shoved with all his might. The hilt of the sword struck the man and drove him back. He stumbled, and then he was falling, tumbling down the stairs, the sword still embedded in him.

He came to rest at the bottom, no longer moving. Cloud could see a dozen people staring in his direction, and at the staircase that now was spattered with a long trail of blood.

Suddenly Magnus was beside him. He had not seen him come up, or where he had come from.

"Thank God you're alive," he said. "I thought I would get here too late."

Cloud said nothing, but just stood there looking at the man at the bottom of the stairs.

"You're hurt," Magnus observed. "C'mon, let's get you out of here."

He took Cloud's arm and led him away. Cloud did not resist. As they walked down the corridor Magnus continued.

"I got a message saying your life might be in danger. I got back here as fast as I could."

"You lied to me," Cloud said, his voice holding no hint of emotion.

Magnus stopped and looked at him.

"What's happened?"

"Gram told me everything."

"I don't understand," Magnus said slowly.

"Of course you do," Cloud responded. "He told me it all. How you decieved me to get me here so they could experiment on me to discover how to infuse your own soldiers with Mako energy. About the plans to make war on the other continents. About everything."

Magnus stood there for a long time without speaking. He looked in Cloud's eyes, but he saw nothing. No reproach, no anger, no expression at all. But his own eyes were filled with puzzlement.

"He's got Tifa," Cloud said. "He's got my...friend. He'll kill her if I don't do as they say. You don't have to keep up the charade any longer."

Magnus looked down at the ground for a moment. When he looked up again, he did not look in Cloud's eyes.

"C'mon, let's get that wound looked at."

Magnus reached for his arm again, but Cloud pulled away this time.

"I don't need any help from you," he said evenly.

He turned and walked away. Magnus stood there looking at him. He hesitated for a moment, then called out Cloud's name.

Cloud did not respond, just kept walking until he disappeared around a turn in the hallway. Magnus lowered his head.

"I didn't want it to be like this," he said softly.

* * *

The light was so bright.

Tifa opened here eyes and squinted. There was a large light directly over her head. She went to bring her hand up to shade her eyes, but something prevented it.

She twisted her head to the side, her mind clearing. She looked around. She was strapped to a bed in some kind of laboratory.

"Ah, you're awake."

She turned in the other direction. A man in a lab coat stood nearly. She recognized him as one of the men she had seen in the hall of the hotel.

"Dr. Frankenstein, I presume?" she said.

Kendal walked over to her and looked at her seriously.

"My name is Kendal," he said simply.

A door opened behind him. He turned and they saw a young woman with blonde hair enter the room. She quickly came over and stared at Tifa. It was not a friendly look.

"So you're Cloud's little slut, uh," she said, looking Tifa up and down. "You don't look like much to me."

Tifa looked at her for a moment.

"I guess you must be Igor," she observed.

Wisteria stepped closer. Then she suddenly slapped Tifa hard across the face. Though the blow made her head swim, Tifa kept her face expressionless.

Wisteria stood there looking at her a moment more, Then she turned to Kendal.

"Hurt her," she said. "Hurt her badly."

Kendal looked at her sardonically.

"Relax my dear, there will be plenty of time for that later. I have specific orders from your father that she is not to be damaged."

"Not to be damaged!" Wisteria said in surprise. "Why not?"

"It seems we need her in one piece to keep Cloud in line," he replied. "As soon as we have what we need I assure you she will suffer indescribable agonies."

This seemed to mollify Wisteria to some extent.

"Very well," she said. "I suppose I can wait for a little while longer."

She turned to look at Tifa, then bent close to her, until she was right beside her.

"Enjoy your stay while you can," she said. "I hope you don't get too lonely. I know I won't. I intend to show Cloud very soon what it's like to have a real woman."

Then she turned and sauntered out of the room.

Kendal watched her until she was gone. Then he turned and came slowly over to Tifa.

"Looks like you've made one enemy already," he stated, looking her up and down slowly. He had not expected her to be so attractive.

"Wisteria is not a good enemy to have. She's the daughter of the President, you know. Or maybe you didn't know. No matter. It might be helpful if you had someone on your side."

He was no longer looking at her face as he spoke now.

"I do have some influence here myself," he continued. "I may be able to help you out some, in exchange for certain favors, of course."

He ran his hand slowly up her thigh until it touched the hem of her skirt.

He raised his eyes to look at her face.

"Drop dead," she said.

Kendal laughed.

"Full of bravado. I like that."

Suddenly he stopped laughing. He grabbed hold of her shirt, twisting it savagely and lifting her partially upward. She head a ripping sound. He stared into her eyes, and she could see nothing in his but cold fury.

"You are a fool," he said grimly. "The truth is, if I wanted you I could take you. Now! And no one would stop me, or care for that matter. You are completely in my power."

He pulled her closer, until their faces were inches apart. He stared at her, and for just a moment, he saw a glimmer of what he was looking for. It lasted for just a second before it was concealed again, but he had seen it. Had seen the fear in her eyes.

He let her go, and she slumped back down on the table.

This was going to be an interesting one, he thought. A very interesting one. It had been a long time since he had had a challenge.

"I've never taken a woman against her will," he said, looking at her slowly once more. "But I promise you this. By the time we are done, you will be with me. In fact you will be begging me. And after that, you will beg me to kill you."

Kendal laughed again, then he turned and walked quickly out of the room.


	10. Things Are Starting to Look Bleak

CHAPTER X

THINGS ARE STARTING TO LOOK BLEAK

The bar was perhaps three quarters full. Mostly soldiers, but that wasn't unusual considering the barracks that stood just down the street. There were the usual young women in the crowd as well, some there to have a drink and a good time dancing, others there for a different kind of good time. There were a few other men who were not soldiers as well. One sat with his legs propped up in a dark corner of the tavern, complete unnoticed by anyone else. He seemed to be lost in thought, looking down at the drink in his hand, not paying much attention to what was going on around him, but that impression was far from correct.

Vincent took another sip from his drink. He had spent most of the evening sitting at one bar or another, unobtrusivly trying to gather some information that might help them to find Cloud. This was the third bar tonight, and by far the most promising, with all these soldiers here, but the most dangerous as well, for the same reason. He had been listening to two men in particular who sat not far away. They were talking loudly, obviously begining to feel the effects of their drinks. Their conversation had been pretty inocuous so far, but then he heard something that made him take notice.

"I heard Captain Tremaine's squad took a beating yesterday," the first man said.

"Yeah," his companion replied. "They had gotten a tip about some spies. He took his squad to try to capture them by himself. I guess he wanted all the glory. What he got was something else entirely."

The man didn't seem to broken up about it.

"I heard it was a girl that whipped them," the first man continued.

"Yeah," the other replied with a chuckle. "She had some kind of materia. Very powerful. I had heard that the spies didn't even know how to use materia properly. There's all kinds of rumors flying now."

"I'll say," the first man said thoughtfully. "I wonder if this has anything to do with the guy with the sword."

"Who?"

"The guy with the sword," the first man repeated. "Up at the Presidential Palace. You mean you haven't heard?"

"I heard that something happened up there yesterday. Some kind of assasination attempt?"

"That's it," the first man said, nodding. "Right in the main lobby of the Presidential Palace. They don't know how he got in, but security was caught with it's pants down. They didn't suspect a thing. Heads are gonna roll for that one, that's for sure. Apparently he fought the assassin off by himself, the guy with the sword, I mean. I don't know his name. Drove that sword of his right through the guy. Heard it made a huge mess. The guy with the sword was wounded, but he's supposed to be all right. Gram was flipping out."

The second man nodded slowly.

"So who is this guy?"

"I don't know," the first man replied, shrugging. "No one seems to know who he is or where he came from. It's all been hush hush up there, but there's something going on. Something big. Everybody's been walking around on pins and needles. I don't know, maybe it has something to do with Gram officially taking office as President, but somehow I don't think so."

Another song started on the jukebox, and the rest of the conversation was drowned out. Still, Vincent had heard enough. He got up to leave. Behind him a man pushed his chair back, just as the waitress walked by. She twisted out of the way, but one of the bottles on her tray tipped and fell to the floor with a crash.

The two men Vincent had been eavesdropping on turned to look at the commotion. Vincent walked quickly away, but one of the men looked at him. He turned back to his companion and jerked a thumb in Vincent's direction.

"Was that guy sitting by us?"

The second shrugged.

"I have no idea."

The first man watched Vincent as he headed for the door. Then he stood up.

"I think he was," he said. "C'mon."

The second man looked up skeptically but then reluctantly rose.

They walked out onto the street. The first man looked around and saw a dark figure down near the end of the block.

"Hey you, hold on a minute," he called out. "I'd like to have a word with you."

The man did not turn or look back, in fact he did not acknowledge at all that he had heard the call. A moment later he disappeared around the corner.

The two soldiers followed, suddenly running now. They reached the corner and looked around. The could see the man farther down the block. He had crossed the street.

"Hey you," the first man called out, more authoritatively this time. "Stop!"

The person in front of them did not pause or look back. Either he was deaf or he was ignoring them.

They took off down the street after him.

The man did not run. There was a low stone wall running along the street next to him. The men following him could see the dark outline of trees beyond it. Suddenly the man turned and disappeared over the wall.

The other two came up to the spot where he went over and stopped. There was a gate in the wall just a few paces in front of them. The gate was closed and locked, but they could make out the name above it and knew what lay beyond.

The cemetary.

The two stood there looking at each other. The wall was just barely higher than their heads. One man grabbed hold of it and hauled himself up to look over. He paused for a moment then dropped back down.

"I don't see anything," he said.

They looked at each other, and both of them seemed to come to the same conclusion.

"It was probably nothing," the first man said.

"Yeah," the second man agreed. "Probably. Besides, the guy could be anywhere by now. We've got better things to do than go running around on some wild goose chase."

"Absolutely," the first man responded. "Let's head back to the bar. We've still got a couple of hours to get some drinking in."

The two walked away from the cemetary, thus saving themselves from becoming residents.

Vincent slowly put his gun away and walked out of the shadows of an overhanging willow tree. He slipped back over the wall. The street was now deserted. Quickly he hurried off.

It didn't take him long to reach their hotel. It was not the same one as the other night. He thought it prudent that they didn't remain in one spot more than a day or two. He walked slowly up to the side of the building, then, after looking around carefully, climbed quickly up to a window on the third floor.

Elena's hand automatically went for her gun when she heard the tapping on the window. She relaxed when she looked over and saw Vincent outside. She got up and opened the window. Vincent quickly slipped inside, and she closed it behind him.

"The place has a front door you know," she commented.

He shrugged.

"I didn't want to draw attention to myself," he replied.

She looked at him.

"So you thought climbing up the side of the building would draw less attention than walking in the main entrance?"

Vincent paused for a moment to think it over.

"Yes," he replied. "If no one sees you."

She smiled.

"You have a flair for the dramatic," she stated.

"On the contrary," he replied. "I am trying to be as unobtrusive as possible."

She decided not to pursue it.

"Did you find out anything?"

"Yes, I know where Cloud is."

She looked at him in surprise. She waited, but he said nothing.

"Well, are you going to tell me?"

"In the Presidential Palace," Vincent replied. "Apparently he is an important man. Important enough for someone to try to kill."

"Huh?" Elena said.

Vincent recounted the conversation he had heard in the bar.

"Looks like he's got himself mixed up in something big," Elena commented when he had finished. "So what do we do now?"

Vincent sat down on the bed.

"I suppose we should try to contact him," he said. "For all we know, he isn't even aware that we are here."

Elena sat on the bed behind him and started to massage his shoulders.

"Won't he be surprised," she said.

"Of course, we will have to be discreet," he continued. "I'm sure they wouldn't be too happy if we just walked in the front door."

She leaned forward and kissed him on the neck.

"Security will be tight," he went on after a moment. "It is the Presidential Palace, after all. And after the assasination attempt, things will be even tougher. It's not going to be easy to get near him."

"Uh huh," Elena said softly, whispering it directly into his ear.

He turned toward her and pulled her around in front of him, into his lap. He leaned foward and kissed her. She slowly slid her arms up around his neck.

Their lips parted. He looked at her.

"Wouldn't you be more comfortable wearing...less?"

She disengaged and stood up, looking at him coyly.

"How much less?" she asked.

He sat there and his eyes ran up and down her body.

"Much less," he said slowly. "Much, much less."

Some time later Elena lay in bed, her head resting on Vincent's chest. She felt so comfortable there, and safe. For a short time all the danger and worries of the world around them had disappeared. It had been good to forget about their troubles. She needed that every once in a while, to be able to retreat from the world.

"Do you think everything will turn out all right?" she asked.

Vincent was stroking her back lightly with one hand.

"Are you looking for an honest answer or reassurance?" he asked.

A smile crossed her face for at that.

"Reassurance," she said after a moment.

"Everything is going to turn out wonderful," Vincent replied immediately.

She lifted her head and looked at him. The lamp was out, but enough light from the streets outside crept in for her to see he was looking at her as well.

"What about for us?" she asked. "Do you think everything will be all right, between us."

She looked at him closely, but she could not see the expression in his eyes in the dark.

"Reassurance again?" he asked eventually.

She smiled.

"Most definitely."

He leaned forward and kissed her. When he sat back again she continued to stare at him. She didn't speak for a long time.

"I love you, vampire," she said softly.

He looked at her for a second and then turned away, and suddenly she was afraid she had said the wrong thing. She knew how difficult this was for him, how hard it was to let himself have feelings for someone after so long and all that had happened to him. For a moment she could almost feel the wall slipping down between them.

But then he pulled her slowly to him, his hand caressing her hair lightly. He did not say anything, but she could feel him struggling to keep from slipping back into his shell, back behind his armor.

"I...I'm sorry," she said. She didn't want to push him too much. She knew what he had gone through. She could not blame him.

"No," he said. She could not see his face, but she felt him slowly forcing himself to relax."No, it's not your fault."

They lay there in silence, his right hand now resting on the back of her head. His left arm lay at his side, and she could see the metal hand at the end of it dimly in the darkness. It struck her at that moment that she really didn't know what he had gone through. She could understand, but she could never really know. She hadn't asked him what Hojo had done, she was determined to never mention it, never to bring it up, not matter how curious she might be. And she was curious, she couldn't help it. She was going to wait for him, no matter how long it might take, even if he never told her.

She didn't need for him to say it. She didn't need for him to say anything.

* * *

Aeris awoke and sat up, looking around slowly in the dark. She could see the dim shape of Reeve in the other bed. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

She took a deep breath. She had been having an unpleasent dream, though she could not remember what it was about. She could only recall a strong sense of danger. Someone had been trying to warn her. She could almost hear the voice even now. It had not been the voice of anyone she knew.

She got up, feeling oddly restless. She went to turn on the light, but then looked over at Reeve and thought better of it. No need to disturb him. She walked over to the sink, the light from outside more than adequate for her. She poured herself a glass of water and was surprised to see that her hand was trembling slightly.

She turned around and leaned against the counter. She could not shake the feeling of danger. It had seemed so real, so urgent. But it had just been a dream.

Or had it?

She put down the glass and walked slowly across the room, being careful to be especially quiet as she passed the foot of Reeve's bed. She had heard her mother's voice at times of need. This had been similar to that, but not the same, and it certainly had not been her mother. Still, she felt that there was more to it than just a simple dream.

She reached the door to the room. Her hand slipped around the knob. Then she opened it as slowly as she could, just a crack, and looked out.

She could see men in uniform down at the end of the hallway.

She closed the door and slipped over beside Reeve.

"Reeve," she hissed.

He was facing away from her. She saw a slight motion.

"Aeris," he said softly.

"Reeve, there's someone outside. We've got to warn the others," she said.

He did not respond.

"Reeve?"

She bent closer. It took her a moment to realize that he was still asleep.

"Reeve!" she said as loudly as she dared. She reached down and shook him.

"Huh?" he said, sitting up suddenly. He remained there blinking for a moment, then looked at her.

"What's wrong?"

"They've found us," she said. "They're outside in the hall. We've got to get out of here."

He scrambled out of bed and turned on the light. Aeris winced and shaded her eyes.

"You trying to blind me?" she protested.

"Sorry," he replied. "What about the others? Does Vincent know?"

"I don't know," she replied. "I don't think so."

"We've got to warn them," he said, starting for the door. Then he stopped.

"We can't get to their room without being seen," Aeris stated.

He nodded.

"So what do we do?" he asked.

She stood there hesitantly. Whatever they were going to do, they had better do it fast.

"We could call them," he suggested, pointing to the phone.

Aeris shook her head.

"The men outside would be sure to hear it. It would give us away."

"But at least they'd have some warning," Reeve countered.

He looked over at the window. They could probably slip out, and maybe get away without being seen. But could they really abandon Vincent and Elena? They were they only reason they had gotten this far in the first place. What would they do without them?

On the other hand, wouldn't it be better is some of them got away? It wouldn't help Vincent and Elena if they were all caught together.

He walked over and looked out the window. He didn't see anyone in the street below.

"Reeve?" Aeris said quietly, but he could hear the urgency in her voice.

He looked back at her, then at his shotgun propped up on against the wall by the side of his bed. The shotgun Vincent had given him.

He glanced at Aeris once more, then back out the window again. He felt his throat going dry, but he knew they could not abandon their friends. He walked over and picked up the weapon.

"Call them," he said. "Tell them to unlock their door."

Aeris hesitated for a moment, looking at Reeve with just a hint of surprise, but then she lifted the phone.

He stepped over to the door, checking to make sure the gun was loaded. It was. He looked over at Aeris, feeling his heart suddenly thumping against his chest. His hands trembled as he held the gun, a gun he had never before fired in anger.

Aeris heard the ring at the other end of the line. Reeve heard it more faintly through the door. It was picked up almost instantly.

"Yes," she heard Vincent say sharply.

"We're in danger," she said rapidly. "Unlock your door, but don't open it until you hear us."

He hung up.

She picked up her rod and quickly came over to stand behind Reeve. He looked at her and took a deep breath. He couldn't change his mind now.

He turned the knob, as silently as he could. He could feel sweat beading on his brow.

He flung the door open and stepped out into the hall. He saw some soldiers standing in front of Vincent and Elena's door. He didn't really notice how many. They turned to look at him as he fired.

He had braced himself for the blast, but the noise was louder than he expected in the narrow hallway. He saw the soldiers crumple to the ground as blood spattered the wall and hallway behind them. Even after that viscious blast, he could see that some of the soldiers, who had been shielded by the one's in front, still stood.

Suddenly the door to Vincent and Elena's room opened. Vincent stepped out, a pistol in each hand. He rapidly fired half a dozen shots. When he had finished no soldiers remained standing in the hallway. He turned toward Aeris and Reeve. He was wearing just a pair of pants.

"There's bound to be more of them," he growled. He looked back in his room.

"Hurry up, Elena!"

She came out a moment later, trying to button the top few buttons of her blouse while still holding her gun in her hand.

"This way," Vincent exclaimed. He led them down the hall, away from the soidiers. There was a door at the end of the corridor that led to a back stairway. Vincent led them inside and then stopped for a moment, listening carefully, but he heard no sound.

He started down the stairs, signaling for the others to be silent. At any moment Aeris expected them to run into another group of soldiers coming up the stairwell, but they made it to the bottom without incident. They stood in a small vestibule with two doors on opposite walls, one leading back into the hotel and the other outside. The latter was padlocked.

Vincent looked at Elena.

"Do you have your equipment?"

"Of course," she said, stepping forward and taking a pouch out of her pants pocket. She opened it and removed a small tool. A minute later the padlock was open.

Vincent pulled the door open and they stepped out into the night. It was colder than Aeris had expected, she shivered and looked at Vincent, but he didn't even seem to notice.

They were standing in a narrow alley that ran along the back of the building. There were no streetlights here, and the tall buildings around them cut off the moonlight, making it difficult for even Aeris to see. She looked back and forth down the alley. Vincent had already started to lead the others off to the right, but she did not move. Looking in the opposite direction she thought she could make out dim forms.

Suddenly the alley was inundated by a blinding white light.

Aeris shaded her eyes and turned away. The others all turned around in surprise. Two large spotlights had been turned on, revealing both them and the alley around them.

"You are surrounded."

A man stepped into the light. Vincent brought his gun up, but he did not fire. His eyes were begining to adjust, and he saw that beneath the spotlight the alley was crowded with soldiers.

"I'm afraid that there are too many of us for even you to kill, Vincent Valentine," the man said. He came up closer to them, until he was but a few feet away.

"Put down your weapons."

Vincent looked around. He saw that there were more soldiers coming into the alley now from the other direction.

He turned back to the man and dropped his gun. Reeve and Aeris put down their weapons as well. After a moments hesitation, Elena followed suit.

"A wise decision," the man said. "My name is Kendal."

"How did you find us?" Vincent asked.

"I'm afraid I can't reveal my sources," Kendal replied. "Don't want to give my informants away. They might be needed another time. But suffice it to say that someone noticed you. I have to admit it was very clever of you to make it this far."

Vincent did not reply.

"How do you know who we are?" Elena questioned.

Kendal stopped to look her over for a minute. Reeve looked over at her and noticed her shirt hadn't been buttoned properly.

"We know all about you, Elena," Kendal replied. "We know about everyone who was on board your submarine."

He looked back at Vincent.

"Where are the others?" he asked.

"We don't know," Vincent replied. "We were seperated."

Kendal did not look pleased with that response.

"I'm not sure I believe you," he said. "It is foolish to try to protect them. We're going to find them anyway, and it will be much easier for you if you tell me what you know."

"He's telling the truth," Reeve spoke up. "We don't know where they are."

Kendal looked over at him, then back at the others.

"It appears that I am not making myself clear on this matter," he said slowly. "Perhaps a little demonstration is needed to convince you of the seriousness of the situation."

He scratched the back of his head, then looked up.

"Kill..." he said slowly, his hand coming up, and looking at each of them slowly in turn,"...that one."

A man came up behind Aeris and pushed her forward, then placed a hand on her shoulder and forced her down, until she was on her knees.

"No!" Reeve cried out, looking at Kendal and taking a step forward.

"We don't know where the others are," he exclaimed. "I swear it's true."

Neither Vincent or Elena spoke, nor moved at all, for that matter.

Kendal walked over and stood in front of Reeve, looking at him carefully.

"We were seperated when the submarine sank," Reeve said. "We haven't seen them since. For all we know, they could all be dead."

Kendal stood there looking at him for a long time. Finally he turned away.

"I believe you," he said. He looked over at Aeris.

"But six of my men are dead," he continued. "That's put us all in a bad mood. I'm afraid someone is going to have to pay or my men will be very unhappy."

He paused for just a moment.

"Kill her anyway."

The man behind Aeris brought up his gun. Aeris remained on her knees, her head bowed. Reeve could not see her face.

"No!" Reeve cried again. "She had nothing to do with that. I'm the one that shot them."

The man standing behind Aeris looked at Kendal, who raised his hand for him to wait. Kendal looked at Reeve again.

"It appears you have rather strong feelings for this girl," he said.

Reeve hesitated, looking over at Aeris.

"She hasn't hurt anyone," he said.

Kendal took his own pistol out and suddenly aimed it at Reeve.

"So what?" he said. "You think because she is innocent she shouldn't be hurt? It happens all the time. Innocence is no protection. People who have done no harm die every day. Life isn't fair, but that's the way it is. How far would you go to see her live?"

He pulled back the hammer on his gun. It was pointed now directly at Reeve's chest.

"How much do you care for this girl?" Kendal continued. "Do you care enough to take the bullet for her? It's your choice. Just say the word. Are you willing to die for her?"

Reeve looked over at Aeris again. She was not looking up. He turned back to Kendal.

Kendal took a step closer.

"Oh this is so delicious," he said, a smile on his face. "What'll it be? I'm afraid I can't wait much longer. My finger is getting itchy on the trigger. Just say the word, and I'll lower my gun. Just say the word."

Reeve felt sweat on his temple once again. His heart was thumping in his chest and his mouth was dry. He turned once more to look at Aeris, and this time he saw she was looking at him. Her dark green eyes staring at him with a mixture of sympathy and horror.

"Well?" Kendal said, but Reeve barely heard him. He continued to look at Aeris, focusing only on her, her gentle face and soft, soft green eyes. He refused to let himself think of anything else, of anything but her. It wasn't fair for her to be hurt, not again, not ever again.

There was a noise, then pain. He felt his legs moving, stumbling back. but all the while, even as he fell to the ground, he kept his eyes focused on her. He felt himself gasping for breath, but it didn't matter, as long as she was safe. He tried to lift his arm, but he found he no longer had the strength. The pain was incessant now, but that didn't matter either. He had promised to keep her safe, even if she didn't need or want it. He had promised.

He had kept his word.

Her image slowly started to fade, and suddenly the pain began to melt away, replaced by a deep feeling of peace. He had done what he could, and with that he could accept the darkness that was now descending around him.

It didn't matter anymore.

He would be her bodyguard...

"Reeve!" Aeris screamed. She pulled out of the man's grasp and ran toward him, but Kendal suddenly reached out and pulled her back savagely.

"Leave him," he exclaimed. "Leave him for the rats."

He looked at Vincent and Elena, who still had not moved, but Elena's face was pale.

"Bring them along," he said to his men. "I have orders to kill you all, but that can wait, at least for a little while. It may be true that you don't know where the other's are, but you still might be able to help us find them. We might be able to lure them in using you as bait."

He let them away. Vincent and Elena following silently, Aeris still held in Kendal's grip, looking back at the slumped figure lying on the cold street and crying softly, until they turned a corner and the alley disappeared from view.

The other soldiers quickly followed, and soon the alley was deserted and dark once more. But almost as soon as the last soldier had gone, a figure slipped out of the shadows of a doorway. A doorway no one had paid any attention to earlier. The figure walked slowly over to Reeve and stooped down beside him, and if Reeve would have been able to notice such things, he would have immediately recognized him as the man he had followed on the train. Now the man examined Reeve quickly, almost immediately noticing the shallow rise of fall of Reeve's chest.

The man bent his head and seemed to be concentrating on something. A light breeze suddenly seemed to blow through his greying hair. Then suddenly it blew stronger, until it swirled around him, quickly building until the entire alley was filled with gusting wind. Papers and other debris flew up into the air, caught up in the sudden gale. Then, as quickly as it had appeared, the torrent of wind subsided. In moments the alley was silent again.

The man slowly got to his feet. He looked down at Reeve, and saw with satisfaction that his breathing was much stronger and regular now. He turned to hurry away, and as he did so the moon rose over the top of one of the buildings to his left. He looked up at it, and it gleamed faintly in his deep green eyes.

When Reeve opened his eyes he was alone in the alley.

* * *

"Is this what you guys normally do?" Nipala asked.

"Huh?" Red said. They were alone in a room in Ormando's headquarters.

"Well, I've just met you and already we've run off to some strange continent and find ourselves being hunted by practically everyone here," she clarified. "I think I might have been better off before."

Red smiled.

"We do seem to have a knack for getting ourselves in trouble," he replied. "Do you wish we hadn't come."

"No," Nipala said immediately. She had been chased in the past, many times. In fact, she had been on the run all her life. But this was different. All those other times she had been alone.

"No, not at all," she continued. She didn't want to go back to that life, not ever.

Rude entered the room and walked over to them slowly. They could see one of Ormando's men appear outside the door. Rude nodded toward the man.

"I don't think they trust us."

Red nodded.

"They do seem to be keeping a close eye on us," he said. He had noticed that at least one of Ormando's men always seemed to be around.

"I think everyone here is paranoid," Nipala commented.

"And they may all have good reason," Rude added. "Have you seen Zack?"

Nipala shook her head.

"No," she replied. "We saw him go off with Ormando a while ago, but we haven't seen him since."

"Do you know where they went?" he asked.

Red shook his head.

Rude fell silent. He wanted to talk to Ormando himself. Since they had arrived here yesterday they had done nothing, and Rude was restless. He wanted to know what Ormando had in mind, if anything. So far, no one here had told him anything.

Suddenly Dr. Lee appeared in the doorway. He looked over at them.

"Come," he said, his voice conveying a sense of urgency. "We have to leave."

They all looked at him.

"What happened?" Rude said.

"We've been discovered," Dr. Lee replied. "Hurry."

He turned and stepped back out into the hallway. When the others followed he hurried down the hall.

"How did they find us?" Rude asked.

"I don't know," Dr. Lee replied without looking back. "The government has spies everywhere."

They reached an intersection. Dr. Lee led them straight across. They could hear gunfire to the left.

"Hurry up," Dr. Lee said, increasing his pace.

A few minutes later Dr. Lee opened a door that led out into the night. He stepped out and looked around, then motioned for them to follow. There was a van parked on the curb, it looked like the same van they had come here in. Dr. Lee opened the door.

"Get in."

Red and Nipala padded inside. Rude hesitated and looked back at the building they had just left.

"What about Zack?" he questioned.

"We can't worry about him now," Dr. Lee replied. "He's with Ormando. I'm sure they'll both be fine. Hurry!"

Rude paused for just a moment more, then stepped into the van. Dr. Lee hopped in the front, and in moments they were driving away.

"Where are we going?" Red questioned.

"A safe house on the south side," Dr. Lee replied. "We've got quite a few of them in the city."

"Just how safe is this 'safe' house," Rude asked.

Dr. Lee shrugged.

"As safe as possible," he replied. "There are no guarentees."

They fell silent. Rude looked out the front window of the van, but he wasn't really paying much attention.

"The girl you mentioned when we first met," Dr. Lee said, not looking back at him. "The brunette. That was Tifa Lockheart?"

"Yes," Rude said immediately.

"She's been captured. They brought her up to the Presidential Palace. She's not the only one who's here. Some of your other friends wiped out a squad of soldiers down by the waterfront. Some others may have been captured to, or worse, but I'm not sure. There are all kinds of rumors flying around. The whole city is in an uproar."

Rude did not reply, just sat there in silence. Red wanted to say something to reassure him, but he could not think of anything to say.

Ten minutes later Dr. Lee pulled the van to a halt in front of a large apartment building. Before it had even stopped a man had run up to the drivers window. Dr. Lee rolled it down and the man said something to him hurridly. Red could not make out what the man was saying.

Dr. Lee nodded and then pulled the van out into the street again.

"We've got a pickup to make," he said. "It's not far from here."

"Who?" Rude asked.

"I don't know," Dr. Lee replied. "One of your friends."

It was only a few minutes later that Dr. Lee pulled to the side of the road. Three men appeared out of the darkness. The back of the van was opened and someone stepped in.

"Reeve!" Red exclaimed.

The doors slammed shut, and the van was moving again even before Reeve had a chance to sit down. He did sit down, and then looked at them slowly, shaking his head.

"You don't know how good it is to see you," he said.

Red looked at him closely. He had a strange look on his face.

"What happened?" Red asked. "Have you seen any of the others?"

Reeve just looked around slowly. He acted like he hadn't even heard the question.

"Reeve, are you okay?" Nipala asked.

"I don't know," Reeve replied. His hand came up and touched his chest, moving around as if searching for something. He looked down.

"It's gone," he said softly.

"What?" Red questioned. "What's gone?"

Again Reeve did not respond. Finally he dropped his hand and looked up at them.

"The bullet hole," he said.

"What?" Nipala exclaimed.

"I was shot," he said. "I should be dead."

Red looked at him thoughtfully.

"Maybe you should start from the begining," he said.

Reeve nodded. He gave them a brief sketch of what had happened to him and the others, leaving out most of the details. At the end he just told them that Kendal had shot him and taken the others.

"Then I woke again in the alley," he finished. "I had a pain in my chest, but there was no wound. I was fine. It took me a while to realize that it was all real, that I wasn't dreaming and I wasn't really dead. A short time later some men came and got me. They said they were with the Brotherhood and were friends. We waited until the van came, and here I am."

"Do you think Aeris healed you?" Rude asked.

"I don't know," Reeve replied.

"I don't think her spell is strong enough to have healed him so completely," Red commented.

"So then what happened?" Nipala asked.

"I don't know," Reeve repeated. "It almost seems like some kind of miracle."

They fell silent as the van came to a halt again. Dr. Lee turned toward them.

"Okay, we're here."

They all got out and walked into the large apartment building. As soon as they entered they saw Ormando coming toward them. He had a bandage wrapped around his left arm and a grim expression on his face.

"Where's Zack?" Rude asked.

Ormando did not reply, just stood there for a long time. Just by the way he was looking at them they could tell something was wrong.

"We were caught in an ambush inside the building," Ormando finally said. "It took us by surprise. Half the men that were with me died almost immediately. Most of others were wounded. It was a miracle any of us got out of there at all."

He looked from one to the other of them, his face grim but his eyes showing no emotion at all.

"I'm afraid your friend didn't make it."


	11. All Roads Lead to the Presidential Palac

CHAPTER XI

ALL ROADS LEAD TO THE PRESIDENTIAL PALACE

"I have to go to the bathroom."

Tifa looked over at Kendal, who was sitting at a desk nearby, but he did not turn toward her.

"Hello?" she said.

For a moment more he continued writing something down. Then he slowly turned and looked at her.

"You will address me as sir," he said.

"What?"

He slipped his pen into the pocket of his lab coat.

"When you wish to speak to me, you will call me sir," he repeated.

He turned back and started reading some papers.

Tifa just stared at him for a long time.

"I have to go to the bathroom, sir," she said slowly.

He turned to look at her again. Slowly he got up and walked over to her.

"May I have your permission to go to the bathroom, sir," he said.

Tifa just looked at him. What kind of game was this guy playing?

"If you don't let me go soon," she said. "I'm going to make a mess on your nice clean gurney."

He shrugged.

"If you do, just rememeber, you're the one who's going to have to lie in it."

He turned and started back to the desk.

Tifa shook her head.

"May I have your permission to go to the bathroom," she said. She paused for just a second. "Sir."

He did not look back.

"I don't think you mean it," he replied.

"What?" she exclaimed.

He sat back down and looked at her again.

"You're saying the words, but you don't sound like you mean them," he replied. "You have to ask like you mean it."

Tifa couldn't believe what she was hearing. What kind of a sick son of a bitch was this guy?

Kendal took the pen back out of his pocket and started to write some more.

Tifa lay there for a long time in silence. There was no clock in the room. She could not tell how much time had passed, she couldn't even tell if it was day or night. She only knew that the urgency of her problem was increasing rapidly.

"May I have permission to go to the bathroom, sir?" she asked again, looking over at Kendal.

He did not look up, did not even seem to have heard her, in fact.

"Please!" she said.

Slowly he glanced up again. He got up and walked over to her once more. He stood there looking at her thoughtfully.

"You have to realize that from now on, I control everything that happens to you. Eating, drinking, sleeping, even going to the bathroom. Everything you do, you do at my whim. I control everything, you control nothing. Do you understand that?"

She hesitated for just a moment, but she didn't want him to go back to that desk again.

"Yes," she said.

He frowned.

"Yes what?"

"Yes sir."

He nodded slowly.

"Good," he said.

He walked over to a control panel on the far side of the room. He pressed a button and the metal restaints that held her wrists retracted into the bed.

"The bathroom is through that door," he replied, indicating a door on the wall near her. "There is no window, and the vent is much too small for you to escape through. The walls are solid concrete. You cannot get away."

He held up his hand and she saw a green materia orb.

"Nor would it be wise to attempt to use force against me," he continued. "I would just have to use this. You've already had a taste of the stun matieria, and having to use it again will make me very angry. You have one minute."

She hurried into the bathroom, not because of his time limit, but because she had to go. She looked around once in the bathroom, but didn't see much that would be of any use. There was no mirror or medicine cabinet. The only thing the room contained was the toilet and paper.

She came out a short time later, feeling much better. Kendal had not moved from his position by the control panel. He watched carefully as she reluctantly lay back down on the gurney. The restraints snapped back into place.

Kendal fiddled with a dial on the control panel.

"I'm afraid you were twelve seconds late," he said.

He pressed a button and suddenly Tifa felt agonizing pain. She cried out.

Kendal removed his finger from the button and the pain subsided.

"You're going to have to learn to obey me," he said. "You're going to have to learn that I mean what I say. If you listen and obey, you will be rewarded. If you do not, you will suffer. Do you understand?"

Tifa stared up at the ceiling. She was begining to hate this man.

"Yes," she replied.

Kendal turned the dial and pressed the button again. Searing pain shot through her, worse than before. She clenched her teeth and this time managed not to cry out. He left it on longer this time, until she almost felt like she was going to pass out, which would have been a relief. When he released the button she lay back, sweat dripping off her forehead.

"Yes what?" he said.

"Yes sir," she answered.

"That's better," he replied. "Now, just to make sure I've left an impression..."

The electicity flowed through her a third time. She went rigid, her whole body trembling. It seemed every cell in her body was crying out in pain. It went on for a long time this time.

But eventually it did stop. She slumped down once again, and she was barely concious of the fact that someone else had come in the room.

Kendal was talking angrily. It appeared she had missed some of the conversation.

"...won't do her any permanent harm," Kendal was saying.

"It better not," someone said. She looked over and saw another man next to Kendal. He did not appear happy.

"Remember you have direct orders from Gram that's she's not to be injured."

"I'm well aware of President Gram's orders," Kendal replied angrily. "I'm only doing what is necessay for my research."

"I know the kinds of things you've done in the name of your 'research'", the other man replied. He started to walk over to Tifa.

"Stay away from her," Kendal said sharply. "Magnus!"

Magnus walked up beside her and looked down, bending down as if examining her closely. As his face passed close to her cheek she heard him whisper.

"Friends are near."

She just stared at him.

Kendal came over quickly, his face red with rage.

"Leave her alone," he exclaimed. "You're interfering with my research. She is not to have any interaction with anyone but me. I have Gram's complete backing on this."

"As long as you don't injure her," Magnus replied.

"I told you, what I'm doing will not cause any permanent harm," Kendal said, grabbing Magnus by the arm and pulling him away. They both walked back over by the desk.

"This is none of your business," Kendal continued. "You don't know anything about what's going on here. Even if I do hurt her, it's Gram I have to answer to, not you. Now why don't you just run along. I think you've done enough damage here for one day."

"It's my job to make sure Cloud cooperates," Magnus said. "Remember that learning the secret of Mako infusion is our main goal, much more important than any of your other little experiments. I'm just making sure you don't do anything to jepordize that."

"I'm well aware of our goals," Kendal said. He was almost shouting now. "I'm well aware of the constraints I'm working under. I'm well aware of Gram's conditions. I don't need you to remind me. I'm conducting important research here, no matter how you may feel about it. Now I have a lot of work to do, so why don't you just get out!"

Magnus stared at Kendal for a moment, then he turned and glanced at Tifa one more time. She just looked at him, puzzled. There was something about him, something almost familiar. She could swear she had seen him somewhere before.

Magnus turned and walked out of the room. Kendal stood there unmoving for a moment, then he pressed a button and said something into what was obviously an intercom, but she could not make out what he said. A few minutes later another man came into the room.

"I have a job for you," Kendal said. "I want you to follow Magnus."

The man looked at him in surprise.

"Magnus?" he said.

"Yes," Kendal replied. "Keep an eye on him. He's up to something, I know he is, and I intend to find out exactly what."

* * *

"I can't believe Zack bought it," Reeve said.

Red nodded slowly.

"Poor Aeris," Red said. "All this time she thought he was dead."

He shook his head and fell silent.

Reeve looked at him sharply, a pained expression on his face.

"What about Aeris?" he said suddenly. "And Vincent and Elena? They've been captured by that nut. What are we going to do about it?"

"And Tifa," Rude said softly.

"And Cloud too," Red finished. He wondered if any of the others were nearby, and if they could avoid being captured.

Ormando walked back into the room. He had left them after telling them of Zack's demise, and had been gone about a half hour.

"We've got to help our friends," Rude said, looking at him.

Ormando nodded.

"Yes, I know," he replied. "But it won't be easy. I'd like to mount an assault on the Presidental Palace itself. It would be extremely risky, but if we could get in fast enough we might be able to save your friends, especially if they are not expecting it. But right now we just don't have enough firepower. Good weapons are extremely hard to come by, except for the government itself, of course."

"So does that mean you won't help us?" Reeve asked.

"Not necessarily," Ormando replied. "There is a house not far from the Presidental Palace where we have found out the gorvernment is storing a large cache of weapons. The place is lightly guarded because the weapons are stored in a huge vault inside the buidling. No one can get into the vault without the coded combination, which we have obtained from one of our spies. It shouldn't be too difficult to get into the building and take the weapons. If you'd like to come along, we could use all the help we can get."

Red looked at the others. Nipala nodded slowly. Rude said nothing, but one could tell just from the look on his face that he was ready to go. Reeve was the only one who looked hesitant, but then he too nodded.

Red turned to Ormando.

"Let's go."

About fifteen minutes later Red stepped out of the van and surveyed the dark street around them. Traffic was light, unusually so this close to the center of the city. Around them stood well manicured lawns and large single family homes, some of them quite respendent. At least the one's they could see. On some of the properties all that could be seen from the road was a wall and gated entrance.

There was one such wall next to them right now. Three more vehicles carrying Ormando's men were parked nearby. Ormando was gathering them together next to the wall.

"This is where we go over the wall," he said. "The house on this property is where the weapons are stored. It's owned by a wealthy friend of the mayor. We'll get as close to the house as we can. Some of the others are going to cause a disturbance at the front gate. That should distract most of the guards. When that happens we head in. Remember, we have to move fast. I don't think we can take the place without someone getting word out. We'll only have a few minutes to get what we need before reinforcements arrive."

He paused and looked at everyone to make sure they understood.

"Okay," he said, satisfied. "Let's move."

Some of the men were boosted up onto the wall, and they helped the others climb over. Soon everyone was gathered on the other side. They stood in the darkness, surrounded by a stand of pine trees.

Ormando led them off silently into the night. Reeve was near the back of the pack, trailing his friends. He was nervous, but determined not to show it. It looked like they were in some kind of garden. They were walking down a stone path amid neatly trimmed hedges. He heard the sound of running water ahead and soon came upon a fountain with the water spraying out of the top of a statue of a dolphin in the center of it. He glanced ahead and saw the twinkling of lights from the house ahead of them.

They stoppped suddenly near one particularly tall hedge. Reeve could hear low voices talking for a minute, but then the sound slowly faded. They stood there for what seemed like an agonizingly long time.

Suddenly there were shouts off to the left. For a moment Reeve felt sudden panic as he thought they had been discovered, but then he remembered what Ormando had told him about the little diversion they had planned.

The group moved forward once more. They came to the end of the hedge. Reeve could see the house plainly now. It was huge, it's windows brightly illuminated in the darkness. It stood about a hundred yards away, a well manicured lawn between them. He could see a large swimming pool off to the right. There was no more cover.

There were more shouts, and Reeve saw some figures running in the dark, but they were running in the other direction. He could see Ormando now, standing at the head of the group, watching the house carefully. Finally, satisfied that the way was clear, he signaled for them to move forward.

There was no more cover, the time for stealth had passed. Ormando led them at a dead run toward the building. They saw a man standing by an open door, looking off to the right. He turned to look at them suddenly, but then Reeve heard a shot, and the man fell to the ground.

Ormando ran past and into the building. The others followed. Reeve heard more shouts now, and then shots. He heard a bullet ricochet off the side of the building nearby, then he too was inside.

Ormando's men spread out as soon as they entered the mansion. They knew time was of the essence. They had to quell the opposition quickly, get the weapons and get out of there as fast as possible.

Reeve followed his friends, who were in turn following Ormando. They passed through three or four large rooms, all elegantly furnished. What little opposition got in their way was quickly dispatched. They entered another room and Ormando stopped, looking around until he spotted a hallway that led down a narrow flight of stairs.

"This way," he said, quickly running over and plunging down the stairs. The others followed.

There was a long hallway at the bottom of the stairs. Two guards stood in the hallway, but they were apparently unaware of the commotion upstairs. The fell before they even had a chance to react.

There was a closed door at the end of the hallway. Ormando ran up and flung it open. Inside was another large room, larger, in fact, than any they had been in yet. At the far end of it stood a huge metal door.

Ormando looked around, weapon ready, but the room was deserted. He looked at the door.

"This is it," he said.

Three of his men had followed him, along with Reeve and his friends. Now they all slowly walked up to the door. There was a keypad on the wall beside it. Ormando stepped over to it, with Red right behind him. Ormando looked at the others.

"Let's hope our spy had accurate information," he stated as he punched in a series of numbers.

He stepped back. For just a moment nothing happened. Then there was a click and the door slowly swung open.

Ormando turned back toward them, a satisfied look on his face.

"Let's go."

They walked into the vault. It was almost as large as the adjacent room. Long lines of shelves filled it, but most of them were empty. There were seven crates lined up along the bottom of one shelf.

They picked up the crates and transported them out of the vault, laying them on the floor outside. Ormando stood up and looked in the vault when they had completed the task. Then he turned to Rude.

"Better see if there's any more of them in the back of the vault," he said. "We'll start bringing these upstairs.

Rude nodded and walked into the vault, followed by Reeve and Nipala. Red started after them, but then stopped suddenly and swiveled his head, listening carefully. His eyes came to rest on a large desk in one corner of the room. He thought he had heard something.

He slowly walked over to the desk. Ormando and one of his men turned to look at him. The man with Ormando looked back at the vault, then at Red. He seemed about to say something, but Ormando cut him off with a quick gesture.

Red came around the side of the desk, and even before he saw the man crouched behind it, he heard his ragged breathing. The man saw Red and suddenly scrambled up from under the desk, his hands raised in the air. He was an older man with white hair. He was dressed in casual clothes. He did not look like a soldier.

"All...all right," he stammered. "I surrender. Take whatever you want. Just don't hurt me!"

Ormando lifted his gun and pointed it at him. He turned to look back at the vault, then nodded to the man beside him.

"Close it," he said.

The man stepped over to the vault and began to swing it shut. Ormando turned back toward their captive.

"We are not thieves," he said. "We don't want your money. We are warriors fighting for liberation. The government of Mysteele is our enemy, and anyone who assists them. You have let them store their weapons here, you have openly aided and abetted them. You are our enemy, and the sentance for that is death."

"No..." the man blurted out, but was cut off by the sound of gunfire. He fell to the ground.

Red didn't stop to watch, instead he lept forward and sprinted for the hallway as fast as his legs could carry him. They were closing the vault, with his friends trapped inside. There was only one conclusion he could draw from that. Ormando had an agenda of his own that he had failed to mention to them. He obviously intented to leave them for the government to find once they reopened the vault. Since Red was not in the vault, it seemed reasonable to conclude that Ormando's next bullet would be for him.

Ormando had not expected Red to react so quickly, nor the speed at which Red raced across the room. He managed to get off three shots, and thought he saw Red's body jerk sharply at the third one, but he did not go down, and a moment later had disapppeared down the hallway.

The man beside Ormando ran to the entrance and looked down the hall, but by the time he got there it was empty. He turned to look back at Ormando.

"Should we pursue him?"

Ormando came up and stood beside him. He looked down the hall as well, and was satisfied to see a sprinkling of blood on the floor.

"No," he said eventually. "Forget about him. He's hurt and his friends are trapped. What can an animal do all by itself? Let's just get the guns and go. I think we can safely say that there is no longer any chance that they will interfere with our plans."

They both turned away and walked back to the gun crates. The man with Ormando still looked worried.

"It was standing behind you when you opened the vault," he pointed out. "Do you think it could have seen the combination?"

Ormando looked at the man like he had lost his mind.

"What are you, crazy? It was a fourteen digit code. A man couldn't have memorized it that quickly, much less some dumb beast. Now let's get this stuff out of here before the entire Mysteel army comes down on our heads."

* * *

"Hey!" Reeve shouted, turning to see the vault door closing behind him. He ran over to it, but by the time he got there it had already slammed shut. He stood there for a moment in shock, then turned to Rude and Nipala. Their faces held the same expression he suspected was now on his own.

"What the hell!" Rude exclaimed.

He walked over to the door and pushed on it. It did not budge. He pounded on it, but the door did not even shudder. He doubted anyone outside could even hear him. He turned around and looked at the others, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"They tricked us," he said.

"But why?" Nipala growled. He could see her red eyes were dark with anger, and her tail was twitching violently. Her claws were extended, and he had no doubt that if Ormando stood in front of them right now, well, it would not be a pretty sight. Unfortunately they were seperated from him by a good foot of solid steel.

"I don't know," Rude replied. "But it looks like this was a set up right from the begining. I don't think he ever had any intention of helping us."

Nipala growled for real this time.

"So what do we do now?" Reeve said helplessly.

Rude shrugged.

"It doesn't seem that there's much we can do," he replied. "We can't bust out of here. We're just going to have to sit and wait. Don't forget that Red's still out there. I'm afraid it's going to be up to him to spring us."

"But how can he do that?" Reeve said. "Ormando was the only one who knew the combination."

Rude looked at him grimly.

"I'm afraid if that's true, then the next people we are likely to see will be Mysteele soldiers."

They fell silent. Rude sat down with his back against the door. Nipala paced back and forth in front of him, her tail still twitching, maybe even worse now. Reeve just stood where he was, still hardly able to believe what was happening. Couldn't they trust anyone on this damn continent?

The minutes dragged by with agonizing slowness. He looked back at the door. There was no way through it, he knew that. They had no choice but to wait for it to open, to just wait for whatever fate would bring them. There was no way out of here short of a miracle, and he had a sneaking suspicion that he had used all his up.

He didn't know how long they sat there. There was no clock in the vault. It seemed like hours, but Reeve suspected that it was much less time than that. He had just started to pace himself when there was a soft click and the door swung slowly open.

Rude stood up, gun in hand. Reeve clutched his shotgun as well, but then they all saw Red standing in the entrance, looking at them thoughtfully.

"Red!" Rude exclaimed, a grin suddenly appearing on his face.

They practically fell over one another getting out of the vault. Except for Red, the room they entered was now deserted. Rude noted a body lying by a desk to their left. Nipala noticed something else.

"Red," she exclaimed. "You've been hurt!"

Red looked back at his left rear leg, which he was holding off the ground. Blood dripped from it.

"Let me take a look at that," Reeve said.

He crouched down and examined Red's wound.

"Doesn't look too bad," he said. "But we need to stop the bleeding. If we had a cure materia you'd be good as new in no time."

"Unfortunately, we don't," Niapala stated.

"How did you get us out?" Rude asked as Reeve bound up the wound.

"I memorized the code when Ormando opened the door," Red replied. "It wasn't difficult. Just a simple fourteen digits."

Rude smiled grimly.

"Simple for you, maybe," he muttered.

"Was Ormando the one who shot you?" Nipala asked.

"Yes," Red said. "Obviously his plan all along was to leave us trapped in the vault. When I didn't cooperate he attempted to kill me, but when I escaped he knew he wouldn't have time to chase me down. I don't think he thought I was intelligent enough to assist you."

"People do have a tendancy to underestimate you two," Rude commented.

"I had to wait for him to leave, then I came back as soon as I could. I'm afraid it took longer than I had hoped. We must leave immediately. I'm sure word got out of this attack. More soldiers could be showing up any minute."

No one was going to argue with that. Reeve stood up.

"All set," he said. "I'm not going to say good as new, but it will do. Now let's get out of here."

They ran down the hallway, Rude in the lead, with Nipala and Red bringing up the rear, Red still favoring the injured leg. But even on three legs he could keep up easily with the two humans.

They quickly mounted the steps. The building was deathly silent. They saw no one as they passed back through the rooms to the exit, at least, no one alive.

The group stepped out once more into the cool night air, hurryng across the lawn toward the garden. They had not gotten very far, however, when they heard the rumble of a vehicle off to the left. They put on a burst of speed but hadn't quite reached the safety of the trees when they were illuminated in the beam of a spotlight.

They heard shouts and the rattle of gunfire, but then they were in the garden and the light was blocked out as they ran into the shadow of the hedge. It might have blocked the light, but bullets were another matter. They sprayed around them, but none found a target.

They did not pause, running fast back toward the wall. There were more shots, but these were far wide of the mark. Their pursuers were just firing blindly, at least for now. They reached the wall and Reeve boosted Rude up. Rude turned, grabbed Reeve's hand and hauled him over. Nipala sprang to the top without any assistance. Red leaped up, but his rear leg failed him. He barely got off the ground, and fell back, his leg suddenly burning with pain.

"Over here," Rude said, extending a hand. "Hurry!"

Red stood up again, ignoring the pain in his leg. He lept once more, this time Rude grabbed hold of his front leg. He held on, but Red was too heavy to haul up, until Reeve reached down and took hold of Red as well. Together they pulled him over and dropped down on the other side.

"Thank you," Red said politely.

"Let's get out of here," Rude said.

Reeve looked around. The street around them was deserted. He had half expected to see the road crowded with vehicles filled with soldiers. Quickly they ran across the street and then down a side block. Moments after they had crossed they saw a flash of lights, and then two jeeps did come to a screeching halt, right near the place where they had come over the wall.

They continued down the street, no longer running, trying not to draw attention to themselves. Down the block they saw another jeep pass by, but it did not turn in their direction. They went on, and soon the streets became quiet around them. After a while they stopped, finally convinced that they had gotten away.

"It seems no one can be trusted in this God damn country," Rude exclaimed.

Reeve nodded in agreement. They had come all this way hoping that the Brotherhood would help them, but even they had turned against them. What chance did they have now?

"So what do we do?" he said bitterly.

Rude shook his head, obviously at a loss.

Red had eased himself to the ground, blood discoloring the bandage on his wounded leg.

"We go on without any help," he said quietly.

Reeve and Rude both looked at him.

"It wouldn't be the first time we've had to depend on our own resources," Red continued. "We know we can't trust anyone else, but we can still depend on each other. I'm afraid it's up to us to help our friends. Oramando told us where they were. I don't think he was lying about that."

Red looked up, past Rude and Reeve. They turned slowly. The street dropped out of sight down a hill ahead of them, but then rose up again farther on, up a steep hill rising high over the harbour to their right. At the very top of hill they could see a tall tower blazing with light.

"I think it's time we paid a little visit to the Presidential Palace," Red said.

* * *

Reno opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. He lay there for a long time unmoving. Finally he lifted his head, and immediatly dropped it back down, regretting it. His head throbbed at the movement and his back felt like someone had used a power sander on it.

"Back among the living?"

Reno looked to his left, trying to move his head as little as possible. Yuffie sat in a chair nearby.

"Hey pest," he said. "What are you doing here?"

He looked around.

"Where is here, anyway?"

"Another hotel," she replied. She stood up, came over to the bed and looked at him. "We didn't think it was a good idea to stay at the one you were in."

"Yeah, well, I can understand that," he said. A connecting door to another room stood open nearby. Reno could hear voices talking quietly through it.

"Is that Cid and Barret I hear cursing in there?" he asked.

"None other," she replied.

"Anybody else with you?"

"Just Mosato," she answered. "He's a kid we picked up along the way. We haven't seen any of the others."

Reno nodded. He slowly pulled himself up in the bed. His head spun for a moment, but then cleared. His back ached, but it was bearable.

"How'd you find me?" he asked.

"We met some Mysteele soldiers who were kind enough to point us in your direction," she said. "They told us that you and Tifa...did you really drug her?"

Reno grinned.

"Yeah, I'm afraid I did. Boy, is she going to be pissed..." he fell silent and the grin vanished.

"I guess I really blew it this time, eh?" he continued soberly. "Remind me to never try anything noble again, it just gets you in trouble."

"Words to live by," she agreed. She pulled out a green materia orb. "Let me take a look at that back of yours. See if you need another 'treatment'".

He turned to his side, the pain in his head far exceeding the pain in his back. Yuffie spent a moment examining him.

"The wounds are healing nicely," she stated. "You'll be back on your feet in no time."

He turned back and looked at her.

"Since when did you turn into Florence Nightingale?" he questioned.

He saw anger flare in her eyes.

"Well excuse me for trying to help," she said dryly. "Mabye we should have just left you drunk and bleeding."

"It's a state I'm well aquainted with," he replied philosophically. "The way you're fawning over me, you'd think you have a thing for me or something."

Yuffie took a step back, and Reno noted with some satisfaction that for a moemnt she seemed to be at a loss for words.

"A thing for you?" she said in a shocked voice. "Damn, what an ego you've got. To think that I actually felt sorry for you."

She turned and retreated toward the other room.

"I'm getting out of here," she said. "There's not enough space in this room for both me and your head!"

Reno grinned and blew her a kiss.

She stomped into the other room. Barret and Cid both looked at her as she came in. Mosato, who was sitting in front of the television, didn't seem to notice her entrance.

"Jerk," she muttered and plopped down angrily in a chair.

"I take it Reno is feeling much better?" Cid observed.

Yuffie muttered something but Cid could not make it out.

They fell silent, as they had been off and on for some time before Yuffie's entrance. Barret stared blanky at the wall, tapping his gun arm lightly on a nearby table. Cid just sat there and brooded. They had Reno now, but they didn't seem to be any better off. In fact, they might be worse off. Now that they knew Tifa was captured their situation was even more urgent. They still had not found any allies, and they did not know where either Cloud or Tifa were. The situation hadn't changed, and Cid still hadn't had any brillant ideas.

The show Mosato was watching on television must have ended, for he got up to change the channel. Cid glanced over at the television. He suddenly jumped up and told Mosato to wait. Both Barret and Yuffie stood up, taking notice of his sudden movement. They all turned to look at the tv.

It was a special news bulliten. They had missed the begining, but a reporter was standing in front of the Presidental Palace as soldiers led three people inside.

"Vice President Gram has ordered the execution of the spies to take place tomorrow morning before he is officially sworn in as President," the reporter was saying. "In a statement the Vice President said he regrets taking such drastic measures, but he believes they are necessary in light of the circumstances and the ruthless attacks the rebels have made on government installations. More at eleven."

They all stood there staring at the screen as it cut to a comercial. Although the prisoners had only been shown for a few seconds they had all imediately recognized the figures of Aeris, Vincent and Elena.

"Shit!" Barret exclaimed. He turned to look at the other two. "What the hell are we going to do now?"

No one replied. Cid removed his cigarette and crushed it against the table top. He looked around slowly at the others.

"Doesn't seem like we have much choice, now does it. I think it's time we added the Presidental Palace to our little tour."

He turned to look at Yuffie.

"But it might be best if we got a little training first," he continued. "With only the three of us, we're going to need all the firepower we can muster. I think it's time you taught us that little materia trick you've learned."

"Four."

They turned and saw Reno standing in the doorway.

"Don't think you're going to leave me out of this one," he said. "It's my fault that they have Tifa in the first place."

Cid looked at him dubiously, but before he could say anything Mosato spoke up.

"Five."

Barret turned to look at him.

"No way," he said firmly. "I'm not going to put a little kid in danger."

"I'm not so little," Mosato protested.

Barret shook his head, but then Yuffie inexplicably came to Mosato's defense.

"Hell, Barret," she said. "Give him a chance. Like Cid said, we need all the firepower we can get. I'll give him something that he can use from long range."

Barret still seemed to want to protest, but he did not reply, instead he looked at Cid.

Cid wasn't really too pleased with the idea, but something about the look in Mosato's eyes got to him. The boy had certainly been helpful, and they did need all the help they could get.

He nodded slowly.

Mosato grinned. Yuffie walked over to him and held out a red materia.

"Think you can handle this?" she said.

Mosato's grin grew even wider.

"You bet!"


	12. The Pieces Come Together

CHAPTER XII

THE PIECES COME TOGETHER

Cloud felt burning pain in his left arm. He clenched his teeth. Though his arm began to tremble, he managed to keep it still enough until Kendal removed the needle.

Kendal stood there staring at him, but Cloud just lowered his head and looked at the ground. He could feel sweat dripping from his brow from the pain, as his whole arm felt as if it were being consumned by fire. He didn't want to look at Kendal. He didn't know whether he would be able to control himself.

He heard Kendal chuckle.

"That hurts a bit huh?" he commented.

Cloud gritted his teeth and said nothing.

Kendal walked over to a nearby table and put down the syringe.

"Well, a little pain never hurt anybody," he continued. "Builds character, is what I always say. Besides, the pain is the least of your worries. I'm afraid the drug we're giving you can have a number of serious side effects. Nausea, blurred vision, headaches, liver damage, lost of motor function, and possibly permanent brain damage. I could go on, but I'm sure you get the idea."

Kendal sat down, still smiling as Cloud finally looked up at him, his eyes smoldering with hatred. Cloud had seen his share of mad scientists. He still remembered what Hojo had done to him, and others. But even Hojo hadn't hurt without a reason, no matter how twisted. Even Vincent he had hurt because of Lucrecia. But even though Kendal had a purpose here as well, namely, discovering how to infuse mako, it seemed to Cloud that the man delighted in causing pain for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

"Before this is over," Cloud found himself saying, "I'm going to kill you."

Kendal eyes shot up at this, then he tilted his head back and laughed out loud. He stood up and walked over to Cloud, looking down at him, the smirking smile still on his face.

"You've got guts, I'll say that for you," he said. "That's very dangerous. I hate people who have guts. Fortunately, they have a tendancy to get themselves killed in the long run. Let me tell you something, better men than you have made that same statement."

He motioned to one of his assistants. The man came over and looked at Kendal.

"Prepare another injection for our project here," he said, looking back at Cloud.

"So soon?" the man said in surprise.

"Yes," Kendal replied. "And this time, double the dosage."

The man stood there looking at Kendal.

"Do you really think that's a good idea?" he said after a moment. "I thought we wanted him alive."

"Just do as I say!" Kendal said angrily and glared at the man.

"Yes sir!" the man said and quickly walked away.

Kendal turned and smiled evilly at Cloud once again.

"We'll see just have brave you are after this," he said. "Don't worry, I'm not about to kill you yet. I think you're strong enough to survive that dosage, barely. It should be interesting to see."

Kendal rubbed the back of his neck.

"And afterwards, I think I'll go pay a little visit to Miss Lockheart. I'm afraid I've been much too easy on her up to this point. I mean, after all, if you're going to kill me, I might as well enjoy myself a little beforehand."

He saw Clouds knuckles go white as he clenched the arms of the chair he sat in, and for just a moment, Kendal thought he had gone too far. They had taken away Cloud's weapon, but he still had trained in the soldier program. Kendal knew he was no match for the young man even without his sword.

"Touch me and she dies," he said quickly, and cursed himself as he heard the hint of fear in his voice.

Cloud sat there for a moment longer, staring at him, poised in the chair as if to pounce, but then he sat back and looked down at the floor.

The smile immediately returned to Kendal's face.

"Very wise," he said and walked back over to the table. He looked over toward his assistant. What was taking the man so long?

The door to the lab opened, and another man stepped in. He walked rapidly over to Kendal.

Kendal looked at him expectantly without speaking.

"I followed Mangus, like you said," the man reported. "He spent most of the day in his usual duties, but about an hour ago he left the palace, being very careful he wasn't followed. I had the damnest time keeping up with him without being spotted. He went to visit a woman."

"A woman?" Kendal said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. He hadn't known Magnus had been seeing anyone, and if he had kept it from Kendal, it must have been secret indeed. Might Magnus have a very good reason for keeping it so?

"What's her name?"

"Lenore," the man replied. "She lives on the east side, near the water. 4015 Grandview Street."

Kendal looked back at Cloud for a moment, as if deciding what to do. Then he turned to his assistant.

"Let's hold off on the next dosage," he said. "I've got a little errand to run, and I don't want to miss this."

He turned to Cloud.

"Looks like you'll be getting a little reprieve. But don't worry, I'll be back soon."

He started for the door. Whatever Magnus was up too, it seemed likely that this Lenore person would have something to do with it, or some knowledge of it. It might be adventageous to go have a little chat with her.

* * *

"This way," Magnus said.

The forklift operator nodded and moved his machine forward slowly, a large crate balanced on the front of it. Magnus waved him forward and then pointed to the right, into a space next to a doorway and a dozen other crates. The forklift turned and moved forward until Magnus motioned for him to put it down, then the crate slowly eased to the floor.

Magnus nodded in satisfaction.

"The others go over there," he said, pointing across the room. "Just pile them next to that machinery."

The forklift driver nodded and pulled away. Magnus stood there watching him for a while, until he was sure the man was caught up in what he was doing. There were at least ten more crates to bring in. That would keep him busy. There was a huge amount of supplies being brought into the presidential palace today for the swearing in ceremony. Or the coronation, as Gram liked to think of it. Magnus shuddered at the thought. Wouldn't the people be shocked if they knew they were swearing in a man as President who was deteremined to plunge them into a world war.

He looked around. The forklift was on the other side of the room now, and no other workers were nearby. Magnus walked to the side of the crate he had so carefully placed. They could put the others whereever the hell they wanted. This was the only one that mattered.

He glanced around one more time. Then, satisfied that no one was paying attention to him, he stooped down and opened a small side panel on the crate. Inside was a keypad and a blank digital display. He quickly punched a sequence of numbers in on the keypad. In a moment the digital display flashed on, reading 45:00 and immediately begining to count down. Magnus quickly closed the panel and stood up, looking around once again. No one had seemed to notice. The forklift was bringing in another crate.

"Hey," Magnus called, getting the operators attention once again. "I think we have room for that one over here."

He motioned the man to bring it over, and the forklift operator obediently placed it on the ground right next to the crate Magnus had opened, effectively blocking the panel. Magnus took one more look around and gave a nod of satisfaction. The die was cast. Now it was up to Dr. Lee and Zack to fulfill their part in this little drama.

* * *

"Are you making any progress?"

Dr. Lee rubbed his eyes and looked up from the microscope he had been staring into for the last ten minutes.

"I'm doing what I can," he replied with just a hint of impatience. "These kind of things take time."

"We don't have much time," Ormando replied, pacing back and forth beside Dr. Lee's desk. "The asssasination attempt was a failure. Cloud is still alive. I don't know if another attempt will be possible. We've got to figure out how to use Mako infusion before Kendal does."

Dr. Lee sighed.

"I'm well aware of the need to obtain this information as quickly as possible," he replied. "As I said, I'm doing what I can. Some things are just impossible to rush."

Ormando stopped pacing and tapped his foot on the floor. He looked over at Zack, who was strapped down on a table nearby.

"Well, you better do more," he said sternly. "Whatever is necessary. I don't care what you have to do to our test subject, just get it done. You can be sure Kendal isn't treating his specimen with kid's gloves!"

For a moment the two stared at one another, then Dr. Lee shook his head.

"Perhaps if you were to leave me alone and let me do my work instead of hovering over me asking stupid questions, I would be able to provide you with answers in a timely fashion," he said sarcastically.

Ormando looked at him darkly. Then he turned away and walked toward the door. When he reached it he turned back.

"All right, I'll leave you be," he growled. 'But I expect answers, and I expect them soon!"

He stalked out of the room.

Dr. Lee stood there looking after him. He gave a mock salute, but only after he was sure Ormando was gone. Then he turned around and walked over to Zack.

"What are you doing to me?" Zack questioned. He had seen the entire incident from his ringside seat, but he didn't know what to make of it. He had surmised from the conversation he had overheard between them since they had brought him here the day before that they were trying to use him to discover how to infuse mako, but other than that he seemed to know precious little about what was going on.

Dr. Lee ignored the question, as he had ignored every other question Zack had posed to him since they had taken him captive.

"Where are my friends?" he tried again.

He hadn't seen any of the others since yesterday. He didn't even know if they were still in the building.

Dr. Lee picked up a clipboard and studied it for a moment, then he walked back over to his desk and sat down. Zack lay back on the table, perplexed. He had just heard Ormando admonishing Dr. Lee for not getting results. It was obvious that whatever they were going to do, they needed to do it as quickly as possible. Yet even with Ormando clearly expecting some results, Dr. Lee had done absolutely nothing to him. No prodding, no questions, no blood samples, no poking around in orificies (for which Zack was especially grateful), no x rays, no nothing. It was as if he weren't attempting to accomplish anything.

"How long is this going to go on?" he tried again.

Dr. Lee continued to study his notes. He didn't even look up.

Zack shook his head. He obviously wasn't going to get any answers from this man. True, he hadn't been hurt, in fact, he was pretty comfortable, but he was still a captive. He had a hunch his friends needed him. How long were they planning on keeping him here?

The phone rang, startling them both. Dr. Lee reached over immediately and picked it up. He listened for a few minutes, then nodded curtly and said, "uh huh."

He hung up the phone and then got up and walked over to Zack.

"It's begun," he said, loosening the straps that held Zack down. "Ormando told your friends that you are dead, then set them up to be captured. Some others are being held captive in the Presidential Palace. They are to be executed in two hours. One of them is Aeris Gainsborough, whom I believed you asked about when we first met. There is a car parked out front. I'll give you the keys. Take it and get to the palace as fast as you can. You don't have much time."

He finished undoing the straps. Zack just lay there looking at him, more puzzled than ever.

"You don't have much time," Dr. Lee repeated. "You and your friends must be out of the palace by ten o'clock. If not you will be killed. Do you understand?"

Zack stood up and stretched his muscles. It had been a while since he had been on his feet. He didn't know what kind of game Dr. Lee was playing, but it seemed now they might both on the same side after all.

"Yes," Zack said. "And thanks."

"Don't thank me," Dr. Lee said. "I'm not doing it for you. I'm doing it for a friend who saved my life during the war. Your sword is in that cabinet over there."

Zack stepped over to the cabinet, opened it up, and withdrew his weapon.

"Here's the keys to the car," Dr. Lee said, shoving something into his hand. "Now hit me."

Zack looked at him.

"What?"

"Hit me," Dr. Lee repeated. "If Ormando thinks I aided you he will kill me. He has to believe you escaped on your own. Now do it."

Zack paused for just a moment. This just seemed to be getting weirder and weirder. Then his fist shot out and struck Dr. Lee in the left eye. He fell back, banging against his desk and knocking it over. All the equipment on it tumbled down on top of him.

Zack took a step forward and looked down at him.

"Are you all right?"

"Just great," he moaned. "Go on, get out of here."

Zack hesitated for a moment more, then turned and ran out the door. Dr. Lee pushed the equipment off of himself and rose unsteadily to his feet. He stumbled over to the door and looked down the hall. When he was convinced Zack had a big enough lead he turned in the other direction.

"Ormando!" he yelled. "Help, the prisoner has escaped!"

He walked slowly back toward his desk and sat down slowly. He heard shouts down the corrider, and a moment later Ormando rushed back into the room. He looked around.

"Escaped?" he cried. "How?"

"He got out of his bonds somehow," Dr. Lee said. "When I went over to him he attacked me. He'll be headed for the Presidential Palace."

Ormando looked out at the hallway, then back at Dr. Lee. His face was red with rage.

"We can't let him get away," he said. He looked back at Dr. Lee.

"I'll deal with you later," he said, then ran out and down the hallway.

Dr. Lee leaned forward and placed his head in his hands. His left eye throbbed.

"I've really got to think about finding another line of work," he muttered.

* * *

"Are you all right?"

Cloud opened his eyes to see Wisteria standing in front of him wearing a look of concern.

"Yeah," he said slowly. His arm still burned with pain, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been earlier.

"C'mon," she said, extending a hand. "Let's get you out of here."

Cloud took her hand and got unsteadily to his feet. They walked out of the room, the two guards who had been following Cloud around since yesterday walked behind them at a discrete distance. Cloud still felt a little disoriented, but the pain in his arm was rapidly subsiding. He felt nauseous, and he seemed to be walking through a fog, though it did seem to be clearing up slowly.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"To my room," she replied nonchalantly.

He did not respond at first, just kept walking like he hadn't heard her. But then he looked at her.

"I really don't think that's such a good idea."

Wisteria stopped and looked at him for a moment.

"What do you see in that girl?" she said petulantly. "Yes, I'll admit she's pretty, in a sort of unsophisticated way, but let's face it, she doesn't compare to me. Why would you want to settle for her when you can do so much better?"

She stepped closer to him and grabbed hold of his other hand as well.

"Besides, I offer more than just beauty," she said slowly. "I'm the daughter of the man who is about to become President. And he's not going to stop there, either. Soon he will be the most powerful man in the world. My father adores me, will do anything for me. Do you realize what kind of power I could give you?"

Cloud did not reply, just stood there looking in her eyes. Her face was only inches away now. She let go of his wrists, ran her hands up his arms until they encircled his neck, and smiled coyly. She leaned forward until her lips were right beside his ear.

"And if that's not enough incentive, there are other pleasures I can share with you as well," she whispered seductively. "Just give me chance and I'll do things to you that your little girlfriend could never imagine in her wildest dreams."

She straightened up, tilting her head and looking at him innocently. For a moment he just stood there, staring at her. Then a hint of a smile curled the corner of his lips, and he nodded slowly.

Wisteria dropped her arms, grabbed his hand, and continued down the hall, a triumphant smile on her face. She had known that eventually he would see it her way. The poor boy had never really had a chance. She knew what he wanted, she knew what they all wanted, and she knew just how to play it. It had never failed her yet.

They reached her room and stepped inside. The two guards who had been following them stopped and leaned against the wall near her doorway. One of them pulled out a cigarette.

Wisteria led Cloud into her bedroom and motioned for him to sit down. Cloud obliged, easing himself down on the foot of her bed.

"I'll be right back," she said, walking into the bathroom. She poked her head out a moment later. "Don't go way."

He did not reply, just sat there on the edge of her bed, looking around the room slowly. Her room was elegantly furnished, just like all the other rooms on this floor of the palace.

She came out a short time later wearing a short silk foam green nightgown. She slipped around behind him on the bed and rubbed his shoulders.

"How"s your arm?" she questioned. "Does it feel better now? It just breaks my heart to see Kendal do that to you. I'll have to talk to my father tomorrow to see if he can do anything about it."

She ran her hands along his shoulders and then down in front of him, reaching for and slowly opening each button on his shirt.

"I'm fine now," he replied.

He raised his arms and she slipped his shirt off and threw it on the floor. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him down onto the bed, turning so she was on top. He felt her body, and then her lips, pressing against his. He slipped his arms around her, then twisted round so he was on top of her. He slowly disengaged, then stood up as his hands reached down to the button on his pants. He looked at her with a sly grin.

"Close your eyes."

She sat up and smiled at him.

"Ohh, now you're getting into it," she exclaimed. She closed her eyes. "Hurry up, I don't think I can wait very long."

"Just a sec," he said.

Wisteria had never waited for anything in her life. She couldn't help but cheat. She opened her eyes, just a sliver.

She had just enough time for her eyes to snap open completely and her jaw to drop before the fist struck her dead center between the eyes.

She tumbled over backwards and fell off the bed, landing on the floor with a thud. Cloud stepped over to look at her, poised to strike again, but it was not necessary. She was motionless, out like a light.

Cloud turned and walked swiftly into the bathroom. There was closet inside. He walked into it and looked around. Wisteria's wardrobe lined the shelves. He looked on top to see a row of boxes. He pulled them off and looked inside each one quickly. She had to have one here somewhere...

He found what he was looking for in the fourth box. He lifted out the white floppy hat and tossed the box aside. He walked back into the bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet, rummaging around until he pulled out a scissor. Then he turned and quickly gathered Wisteria's discarded clothes up off the floor. He returned to the bedroom and threw his haul down on her bed. Then he began looking through the drawers in her room. It took him a few minutes until he found what he needed, a long roll of tape. It was not exactly the best item, he would have prefered glue, but it would have to do. He threw that down on the bed as well and picked up the scissor. He bent down beside Wisteria and lifted her head. She was still out, and he hoped she stayed that way just a little longer. He rested her head in is lap, smoothing out her hair and as best he could. A few cuts with the scissor and he had what he wanted. He prayed that this would work, because he sure didn't want to be anywhere nearby when she woke up and saw what he had done.

He took the hair he had cut and lined it along the back of the hat, then taped it in place as best he could. He picked it up and put it on head experimentaly, standing and looking in the mirror above a large vanity that stood on the floor opposite the bed. The hair didn't stay very well, but it would only have to fool them for a few seconds. He put the hat down carefully and picked up her dress, eyeing it critically. It looked like it would fit, though maybe a little snug.

He couldn't believe he was doing this, but what the heck, it had worked once before.

The two guards heads turned when they saw the door to Wisteria's room open. She stepped out, turning quickly away from them and walking rapidly down the hall. She had put on a white hat. There was no sign of Cloud.

The guards looked at each other.

"Wonder where she's off to?" the first one commented.

The second man shrugged.

"Don't know," he replied. "But she sure finished with him quick. You know Wisteria. Probably wore the poor guy out and now is on the prowl for more."

The both chuckled and turned away.

Cloud walked as quickly as he could back to his own room, praying that he wouldn't run into anyone. He knew going back to his own room was a risk, but he had to chance it. He couldn't continue walking around in these clothes, someone would be bound to notice.

He reached his room and stepped inside. A few minutes later he came out again, dressed in his own clothes. He looked around. So far, so good, but he still had to get his weapon and get Tifa out before he was discovered.

He walked quickly as he could back the way he had come. He had wandered around some when he had first arrived at the palace, and so knew at least some of the floors very well. He entered a stariway that he knew was little used and rapidly descended.

He came out and walked through a few more hallways, going slowly now. wary of running into someone. Two people did pass by in the corridor in front of him. They glanced at him and walked on. He had never seen them before.

He reached the area that held Kendal's lab. It was housed in several rooms, and the first one he went in was the one he had been in earlier when Kendal had given him the drug. He looked around quickly. It was quite possible one of Kendal's assistants would still be around, and he would have to take him out barehanded, but the room was deserted.

He walked over to a cabinet and opened it, then pulled out his sword, He swung it a few times experimentally as a smile grew on his face Just let them try to stop him now.

He walked out of the room and down the hall once more. He stopped in front of another door, readied his sword, and flung it open.

He lept in and looked around. The gurney that Tifa had been laying on stood in the center of the room, empty.

Cloud looked around quickly, but this room was deserted as well. He stepped back out into the hall. He had not expected this, and for the first time he felt uncertain. After what he had done he had to get Tifa and escape. He didn't think either Wisteria or Kendal would be too forgiving. What had they done with her?

He looked up suddenly. He thought he had heard someone cry out. It had been muffled, as if through a door, but he had definitely heard something.

He walked slowly down the hall, listening carefully. He stopped in front of one door. He didn't hear the woman any more, but he did hear muffled talking from within the room. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but it sounded like Kendal.

He kicked open the door and lept inside. Kendal stood on the other side of the room, a phone in his hand. In the center of the room was a woman tied to a chair. Cloud saw immediately that it was not Tifa. It was an older woman with blonde hair. She looked up at him as he came in, and he could see a blackned bruise on her left cheek.

"Kendal!" Cloud snarled.

Kendal dropped the phone when Cloud burst into the room. A look of pure terror appeared in his eyes when he realized who it was. There was a door on the other side of the room, and he immdiately bolted for it. Cloud was after him in an instant. Kendal reached out and pulled it open, then with one last desperate look behind him jumped through and slammed it shut. Cloud's sword was an instant too late and embedded itself in the door instead of Kendal. Cloud pulled it out and went to open the door, but it was locked. He turned and looked at the woman. She had twisted her head around and was looking at him.

"Don't worry about me," she cried. "You must stop him. He'll tell Gram everything."

Cloud didn't respond, but instead turned and slammed himself into the door. It collapsed and he fell into another hallway. He turned to look down the hall, and saw Kendal near the end of it. Kendal immediately turned at the sound, then took off as fast as he could down the hallway. Cloud pulled himself to his feet. He couldn't afford to fall behind. He was not going to let Kendal get away this time.

* * *

Tifa lay on the gurney in the laboratory staring up at the ceiing. She tried to slip her hand through the metal restraint holding it to the bed, as she had dozens of times in the last two days. Her hands were red and bleeding from the effort. She pulled until her hand burned in pain, but she could not get out. The restraints were just too tight.

She looked around. Kendal had been gone for quite some time. She couldn't tell how long, of course. It was hard to judge time here in this windowless room. She couldn't tell how long she had been here, but it seemed like days. She had fallen asleep twice, and had in fact just woken up a short time ago.

She knew it was just a matter of time before Kendal did something that would really hurt her. She could tell he wanted to. It was obvious every time he looked at her. Magnus had said they needed her to keep Cloud in line, but could she trust Kendal to go along with that? She didn't think so. And even if he did, there were things he could do to that wouldn't leave any scars.

She shuddered and tried not to think about that. And what about Magnus? He said friends were near. Did he mean her friends, or did he mean that he was one? Was he going to help her? There was something about him, that hint of familarity she had noticed, that made her want to trust him, but could he help her, even if he wanted to?

She looked back up at the ceiling, a sudden feeling of helplessness washing over her. She hated that feeling, hated it more than anything. She had kept up here courage by telling herself that she would think of something, that Kendal would slip up somehow, that she would get a chance, somewhere along the line, to get out of this. She had to keep believing that.

The door to the room opened. Tifa stiffened in spite of herself. Kendal frightened her just walking into the room.

But it was not Kendal.

Magnus stepped into the room and closed the door slowly behind him. He looked around, then hurried over to the control panel when he saw they were alone. He pressed a button, and the restraints that held her wrists opened.

"Hurry," he said, coming over to her. "I don't know how long it will be before he comes back."

He reached out his hand and helped her stand. She looked at him with a hint of suspicion. She couldn't help it. She was quickly learning that she couldn't trust anyone around here.

Magnus looked at her and seemed to understand.

"I'm a friend," he said reassuringly. "C'mon, we must go. I've still got to get Cloud before time runs out. Hurry."

She hesitated a moment more, then realized that there was no point in waiting. Even if it was a trick, it was still better than being locked on that gurney. Whatever was going to happen, she was free now, and she promised herself they were going to have a hell of a time locking her up again.

"Let's go," she said.

He turned and led her quickly out of the room. She had caught a glimpse of a guard outside sometimes when Kendal had opened the door, but there was no sign of one now.

"This way," Magnus said, leading here quickly down the corridor.

"Where are you taking me?" she asked.

"Down to the basement," he replied. "There's not much going on down there right now. Eveyone is upstairs preparing for the swearing in ceremony. If we can get down there without being seen, you should be able to get out of here through the parking garage. Then I can come back and get Cloud."

"But I want to come with you to get Cloud," she protested.

"It's too risky," he answered quickly. "Someone would be bound to see us. No one would give a second thought to seeing me walking around, but how would I explain you? No, this is the only way."

Tifa was silent for a little while, digesting this information and coming to the conclusion that he was probabaly correct.

"Why are you helping us?" she asked.

"It's my fault you're all here," he answered. "I'm the one who lured Cloud here in the first place. Gram was planning on abducting someone from your continent who had been in the SOLDIER program so we could learn the secret of Mako infusion, so he could create his own soldiers and make war on the other continents. I was the one who came up with the actual plan."

They turned down another corridor. He was walking so rapidly she almost had to run to keep up. He glanced back at her.

"But I didn't expect his friends to follow," he continued. "I'm afraid I've been using Cloud all along, but I promised myself if I could save him and his friends, I would. It's the least I could..."

He stopped suddenly as two soldiers came around the corner in front of them. They all stopped, not ten feet from one another. The soldiers both looked at Tifa.

One of them frowned.

"Say, isn't she..." he said, starting to draw his weapon.

Magnus put out his arm.

"Get back Tifa," he said.

She ducked under his arm and ran forward. She leaped into the air and her leg shot out, catching the man drawing his weapon right in the chest and sending him flying backwards. He slammed against the wall and fell to the ground, his weapon spinning away uselessly. The second man swung at her, but she ducked underneath, fell to her knees, then punched right between his legs. He bent foward with a groan. She reached up, wrapped her arms around his head and flipped him over her. He smashed down hard on his back. She leapt up and looked back and forth between the two men, but neither one seemed willing to pursue the battle any further.

She looked over at Magnus, who was just standing there with his mouth open. He looked at her for a moment, then slowly smiled and shook his head.

"I guess maybe I should stay behind you," he said.

Tifa grinned.

"C'mon, let's get going," he said, and they ran past the fallen men.

He led her down two more hallways, and then slipped through a door and down three flights of steps. The came out another door at the bottom and Magnus stopped.

"Straight on down the hall," he said, pointing ahead. "Left, then left again. They'll be a small cafeteria on your right shortly after that. Take the first right after it. That will lead you out into the garage. From there, just head for daylight."

"Thanks," she said hesitantly.

He turned and opened the door to the stairs.

"Hey," she said.

He turned back to look at her. She opened her mouth, but then stopped. That feeling of familarity struck her again, stronger than ever. She looked at his face, and her voice caught in her throat. She stared at him, not saying anything for a long time. He looked at her and a puzzled expression slowly grew on his face. She knew that look, she knew those blue eyes, and she suddenly realized exactly what is was about him that seemed so familiar. She had seen those eyes before, a thousand times.

"Morgan," she said.

She saw a hint of surprise in hie eyes. He opened his mouth, and for a moment she thought he was going to deny it, but then he shut it again. He looked at her for a moment more, and she saw sadness in his eyes, but then he smiled slowly.

"Beauty, brawn, and brains," he said. "My son sure knows how to pick 'um."

Tifa blushed.

His smile quickly faded.

"I should have known better than to try to fool you. I'm afraid things didn't turn out quite the way I wished them to," he said. "I'm not going to make excuses. My ship was sunk off the coast, and I was badly hurt. Lenore found me on the shore and nursed me back to health. They were right in the middle of a war then so nobody asked too many questions, especially when they found out I could fight. Her whole family had been killed in the war, and her town was under attack. After all she did for me I had to stay and help her. I fell in love with her."

Magnus fell silent. Tifa just looked at him, at a loss for words.

Magnus shook his head.

"There's no time for this," he said firmly. "What's done is done. I don't ask for forgiveness."

He turned away. She wanted to say something to him, wanted to give him some kind of reassurance, but found she had no words.

He took a step toward the stairs once more, but then turned around again. He reached beneath his shirt and pulled a gold chain from around his neck. She could see a locket at the end of it. He extended his hand.

"Give him this," he said slowly. "And tell him I'm sorry, for everything."

Tifa slowly reached out and took the locket.

"Morgan," she said slowly, but he shook his head, then turned and walked through the door.

He ran back up the steps, taking them two at a time. Things were coming rapidly to a head. He had given himself away now, and he didn't know how much more time he had before Kendal discovered what he had done. He had to get Cloud out of here before he was stopped. Cloud didn't have to know about his little conversation with Tifa. She could tell him in her own good time, if she choose.

He reached the first floor and exited the stairwell. He walked through the main lobby and up the curving staircase. He glanced down at his watch. Not much longer now, one way or another.

He started to walk down the hall when suddenly he heard a commotion ahead of him. There were shouts and he could see people running. A couple of soldiers were coming right at him, and he felt a moment of panic as he thought he had been discovered.

But the soldiers ran right past and down the stairs. He saw another one coming down the hall, and called out as the man went by.

"What's going on?"

The soldier stopped and brought himself to attention.

"President Gram has placed the palace on alert," the man exclaimed. "Cloud Strife has escaped!"

The man turned and ran down the hall, after the others. Magnus just stared after him in shock. Could it be true? Could Cloud have escaped? For some reason it didn't seem possible. It was something that had never occured to him, but thinking about it now, he saw no reason why it hadn't.

He looked around. He saw more soldiers running by downstairs. Surely they wouldn't be in such an uproar if it were not true.

Slowly a smile began to form on his lips. The boy was more clever than he had thought.

He turned around and started back down the stairs. There would be no way to find him now. If he had any brains at all, which he obviously did or he would never have escaped in the first place, he would get out of the palace as fast as he could. There was nothing more Magnus could do for him.

Magnus reached the bottom of the stairs and slowly crossed the lobby, heading for the main entrance. Soldiers ran by in all directions, but he ignored them. They didn't matter now. His part was over. He had done what he could to save his son, his friends, and his country.

He reached the entrance and was about to open the glass doors when a hand suddenly came down on his shoulder.

He turned to see Gram standing behind him.

"Magnus," Gram said. "I'm afraid we have a crisis on our hands. I need to discuss strategy with you. Can you come up to my office?"

Magnus looked out the door. There were soldiers running in the street outside as well. He hesitated for just a moment, but he knew there was only one answer he could give.

"Of course," he said.

Gram nodded and turned around, and they both walked quickly back through the crowded lobby.

* * *

Elena sat on a cot in the holding cell, Aeris beside her. Vincent stood leaning against the wall in one corner of the room. It was a small room, not really meant to hold three people. There were two cots in the room, attached to the wall, one above the other. Their captives didn't seem too concerned about their comfort. Actually, she supposed they were fortunate to be alive at all at this point.

She glanced at Aeris, who sat beside her looking at the floor. She was no longer crying, just sat there staring off into space. Elena didn't really care for Aeris that much, but that didn't mean she wanted to see her like this. Reeve's death had been a blow to all of them, but Aeris had been closest to him. Elena had tried to comfort her with clumsy words, but it wasn't somthing she was really very good at. Aeris had not responded. She had remained silent the entire time, except for once, when she had said, barely audibly.

"It should have been me."

Elena had shut up soon after, realizing there was nothing she could say. Vincent had just stood in the corner, making no attempt at all to say anything. She hadn't really expected him to.

No one had spoken in a long time now, and Elena was begining to get fidgety. She got up and walked over to the door of the cell.There was a small barred window in it. She had been hearing low voices coming from outside for some time now. She could see six guards sitting in a circle on the floor in the room outside. They were throwing something on the ground in between them She realized the something was probably dice and they were involved in some kind of gambling game.

She pushed on the door, but it did not budge. It was locked tight, and too heavy to break down. Even if they could get out, it wasn't likely they could get past six guards without any weapons of their own.

She noticed that the volumn of the voices outside had risen.

"Okay, Taylor," one man was saying. "If you get an even number greater than four on this throw, you get your pick."

Another man held the dice above his head and rattled them around for a moment, then cast them on the floor in front of him. For a second they all fell silent, then the man who had thrown the dice raised his fists.

"Yes!" he exclaimed.

A third man in the circle looked at the winner unhappily.

"So which one do you want?" he asked.

Taylor brought his hand to his chin in thought for a moment. He glanced over at the cell.

"The blonde," he announced.

"Really?" said the man who had looked unhappy, his face immediately brightening. "I'll take the one with the brown hair."

"Me too," said a third.

"Same here," said the fourth.

"I'm with Taylor," said the next one. "I'll take the blonde."

The last man was younger than the rest and looked at them uncertainly.

"Are you sure the Captain won't mind us doing this?" he asked.

Taylor looked at him with a frown.

"Who's going to tell him?" he questioned sharply. He waved his hand toward the cell. "They're going to be dead in an hour anyway. Do you think the Captain will care what happens to them in the meantime? Whasamatter, you ain't never done it before?"

They all laughed at the last man's expense. He looked back at them angrily.

"Of course I have," he stated. "I'll take the brown haired one."

"All right then," Taylor said. "Let's get to it."

Elena backed away from the cell door as the guards started over. She looked at Vincent, but he gave no indication that he had overheard.

The door opened and Taylor walked in, followed by the other guards. They all had their weapons drawn and ready. Taylor stopped in front of Elena.

"Come with me," he said sternly.

Elena did not move.

The man reached out to grab her, but she was faster. Her fist shot out and struck him in the nose.

"Keep your hands off me, asshole," she cried.

The man turned away for a minute, clutching his nose. One of his compatriots laughed out loud. Taylor turned back toward her, his face red with rage. He brought up his gun.

"Stupid bitch!" he shouted.

Elena looked at the gun and thought perhaps she had been a bit hasty.

The man's finger tighted on the trigger, but then Aeris suddenly lunged upward and pushed the his arm aside. There was a loud retort and a bullet richocheted off the ceiling as the gun flew from his hand.

The man turned to Aeris, and now his eyes bulged out as if he were going to explode. He grabbed Aeris savagely. It was at this point that the guards made a critical error.

Vincent had remained standing in the corner, not moving a muscle during the entire confrontation. He had just stood there, watching all the guards carefully, while the rage slowly built inside him. When they had first come in two had turned their weapons on him, and had been watching him the entire time. But now they both glanced over at the girls for a moment. As soon as he saw this he let the anger wash over him, until it swept him up in an unstoppable tidal wave.

Taylor brought his arm back to strike Aeris, but paused when he saw the huge shadow growing on the wall in front of him. He turned his head, but by then it was too late. The huge claws of the beast Vincent had transformed into lashed out, and with a scream Taylor fell to the floor, blood spurting from his severed carotid artery.

The other guards took one look at the nightmarish creature Vincent had become and jammed through the door as fast as their legs could carry them. The last man out turned to slam the door behind him, but the Chaos beast's arm shot out, crashing into the door, which in turn slammed into the man behind it, tossing him into the far wall, which he struck with a sound similar to a tomato hit with a hammer.

Elena and Aeris ran out of the room. Both of them avoided looking at what was left of the man who had tried to close the door. They looked down the hall, but it was deserted.

Vincent came out of the room a moment later, his old self again. Elena walked up to him and gave him a shove.

"What took you so long?" she exclaimed. "He would have killed me if it hadn't been for Aeris!"

Vincent shrugged.

"If I'd moved any sooner they would have killed me," he replied calmly. "And I'm afraid I wouldn't have been of much use to you in that condition."

Elena looked as if she were going to say more, but Vincent cut her off.

"Can we discuss this later?"

He turned away before she could speak again. They ran rapidly down the hall. He didn't know where the guards had run off to, but he knew it wouldn't be long before they came back with reinforcements. They had to get out of here while they still had a chance.

* * *

Wisteria opened her eyes and moaned. She brought her hand up to her head and rubbed it, then blinked and looked around. A guard stood at the foot of her bed, looking at her nervously.

"What happened?" she questioned.

"Cloud hit you and escaped," the man said slowly.

"Escaped?" she said, looking at him darkly, remembering with a rush of anger just what Cloud had done to her. The little shit had tricked her!

"How did he get past the guards?" she spate out.

The man did not answer for a moment, just stood there looking at her oddly.

"He disguised himself," the man finally said slowly.

"Disguised himself?" she said. "Disguised himself how?"

The man hesitated again, seeming more nervous than ever.

"He disguised himself as you."

"As me? That's ridiculous..."

She sat up, and as she did so she happened to catch her reflection in the mirror above her vanity. She stopped and stared at it for a moment in disbelief, and for the second time that day, her jaw dropped open.

It was said later on that her shreik could be heard three blocks away.

* * *

Zack hit the gas as the car careened around the corner. The Presidential Palace lay just down the street in front of him now, but there seemed to be some kind of road block ahead. He could see soldiers in the street at the next intersection, turning traffic off to the side.

There was a short line of cars in his lane in front of the roadblock. Zack spent a split second accessing the situation, then pulled the car into the opposing lane and slammed down on the pedal even harder.

He saw the shocked look on the faces of some of the soldiers as he sped by, and those who did not have to leap out of his way turned and fired wildly after him, but none came anywhere near the mark.

The palace was almost right in front of him now, but the streets were filled with people, mostly soldiers, who seemed to be running around in a great panic but not really accomplishing anything. Some had seen his little manuever at the roadblock, however, and fired at him as well. These shots came a little closer, he noted with discomfort, as a bullet smashed through the rear drivers side window.

He turned the car abruptly, and once more saw people leaping desperately out of his way. There was an entrance to a parking garage under the palace off to his right. The entrance itself was blocked off, but the exit was only barred by a thin wooden gate. He barreled through it, snapping the gate like a twig, but had failed to notice the slanted metal spikes on the ground under the gate designed to foil just such a manuever as he was now attempting.

The car rocked under him as all four tires blew out. He careened across the parking garage, out of control, until he slammed to a halt not far from the rear wall.

He lept out of the car, pulling his sword out behind him. There was a door at the back of the garage. As he ran for it he heard shouts and the crack of gunfire. He reahed the door and pulled it open, neary running into a soldier who had just been about to open it from the other side. Zack's sword drove forward, and the man fell to the ground. Zack stepped over the body and ran on. He was just begining to realize what he had gotten himself into. He had never been to the Presidential Palace. He did not know the layout of it, and he had seen how large it was when he had been outside. He had annonced his presence in no uncertain terms, so they would be looking for him. The chances of his finding Aeris and the others before he was caught, much less helping them escape, seemed tiny indeed.

So mabye he hadn't thought it through all that well. Nevertheless, he couldn't turn back now. What he lacked in knowledge he would make up for with tenacity. If they were going to take him down, he was determined to make them pay dearly.

He ran on, picking directions at random. Whenever he came to a stariway he went down. Somehow it seemed reasonable to assume that they would be keeping the prisoners on a lower floor, thought how he came up with that logic he could not say.

He ran into a large room, filled with crates and machinery, and ten soldiers standing by large double doors at the other end of it. One of them looked up at him and shouted to the others. He turned to run back the way he had come and saw more soldiers coming down the hallway from that direction.

"Shit," he muttered and bolted to the side, behind some crates just as a hail of bullets struck the wall where he had been standing. Two soldiers ran around the crates toward him, but a few slashes of his sword cut them down. The others retreated to defensive positions behind some crates of their own, pinning him down with gunfire. He looked around, and realized that, though he was safe for the moment, he could not escape from the room without exposing himself to fire. But that would not do. He could not afford to remain in one place for too long. That would allow them to gather their forces and overwhelm him. He gripped his sword tighly in his hand and moved to the edge of the crates, his eyes falling on a door across twenty yards of open space. He would have to make a run for it.

* * *

Ormando had gathered as many men with his as he could find as he left his headquarters in pursuit of Zack. They made up a convoy of four vehicles as they came to a halt near the Presidential Palace. As soon as he had reached the street in front of the building he had realized that something was very wrong. There were soldiers dashing about everywhere, seemingly in a panic. He could hear shouts and shots being fired. Such a ruckus could not possibly have been caused by just one man.

Whatever the cause, it gave Ormando sudden hope. No one was paying much attention to him and his little convoy. The soldiers seemed to be completely unorganized at the moment. Perhaps this could be turned into an oppertunity not only to recapture Zack but to mount an offensive operation as well. A smile slowly grew on his face. Something had gone wrong here, and that could only be good news for the Brotherhood. Perhaps it was time to strike directly at his enemy. Perhaps this was a chance to not only retreive Zack, but also to get Cloud as well, perhaps this might even be a chance to strike directly at Gram himself! If his enemy was in disorder, it would be foolish not to take advantage of it.

His men were gathering around him now as the got out of their vehicles. He opened the door to the van he had come in and started handing out weapons.

"We've got them on the run," he cried. "Now's our chance to strike. Get your weapons and follow me!"

* * *

Two Mysteele soldiers were walking rapidly down the street behind the Presidential Palace when one happened to glance over on the other side of the street. He stopped dead in his tracks and grabbed hold of his companions arm.

"What the hell is that?" he exclaimed.

There was an entrance to an alleyway between two builidngs across the road. In the mouth of it stood a large red animal.

The second man saw the beast as well and his eyes widened in surprise. At that moment the anmial looked up, right at them, then turned and disappeared into the alley. The two men looked at each other, then without a word ran quickly across the steet and followed the animal into the alley.

A few minutes later two men dressed as Mysteele soldiers stepped out of the alley. Two red beasts walked alongside them.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Reeve asked, tugging at the tight fitting collar of the soldier uniform.

Red shrugged.

"Not very imaginitive, perhaps," he replied. "But it has been known to be effective."

Reeve said nothing more as they all walked toward the Presidential Palace. He felt a strong desire to run toward it as fast as he could, actually, he felt a strong desire to run _away_ from it as fast as he could, but he gritted his teeth and forced himself to walk calmly beside the others.

There were dozens of soldiers running down the street and standing guard in front of the building. The one's in the street ignored them, but when they approached the building one man stepped toward them, looking at Red and Nipala curiously.

"What the hell are those things?" he questioned.

"Specially trained attack lions," Rude answered immediately. "It's a secret project."

The man looked at them dubiously, and seemed about to say more. But then Nipala growled low in her throat and looked at him menacingly. He stepped back.

"Okay," he said nervously. "Go ahead."

Reeve breathed a sigh of relief when they walked though the doors into the palace.

"So where do we go from here?" Rude asked.

"Not sure," Red replied. "Let's just take a look around."

"Why don't we ask someone?" Nipala suggested.

The others pondered this for a moment.

"Let's just look around a little first," Red said.

Nipala shrugged and said nothing more.

Rude led them down the hall. They came out into a wide concourse that looked like it ran the entire length of the palace. It was bustling with activity, most of them soldiers, but quite a few civilians as well.

"Looks a little too crowded for us," Rude said slowly.

Reeve nodded in agreement. They spotted a door nearby. They entered and found themselves in a stairwell.

Rude led them down. The others followed, no one arguing with his selection. They walked down two flights before they came to the bottom of the stairs. There was another door in front of them. They stepped out into a deserted hallway.

They walked along the hall for some time, looking in rooms as they went. Occasionally they saw someone else in the hallways, sometimes a soldier, sometimes not. Almost evey one of them paused and stared at Red and Nipala, but no one questioned them.

They walked on for some time. After a while Nipala's tail began to twitch.

"This is senseless," she finally blurted out. "Why don't we just ask someone?"

The others just looked at her without responding. They passed another room and saw a man inside sitting at a desk studying some papers.

Nipala walked up beside Reeve.

"Ask him!" she said softly, nodding toward the man. Reeve looked in the room hesitantly, then at the others. They did not speak.

"Oh good grief!" Nipala hissed. "What is this, some kind of male thing? None of you want to ask directions?"

"Hey bub!" she called out. The man looked up.

"Where do they keep the prisoners they brought in here the other day?" she asked loudly.

"Down the hall," he said, pointing. He did not seem to think it odd at all that he was talking to a red lion like creature. "But didn't you hear? They all escaped."

Nipala looked at him in surprise.

"All of them?"

"I think so," he said, nodding.

Nipala turned and looked at the others angrily.

"See!" she exclaimed. "If we'd just asked sooner we would have saved ourselves a trip down here!"

The guys just looked at her and shrugged.

She turned back toward the man.

"What's the quickest way out of here?" she asked.

The man had turned back to his papers. Now he pointed down the hall in the same direction he had before without looking up.

"There's a stairway at the end of the corridor," he replied.

"Thank you," Nipala said.

The man waved his hand in dismissal. They continued down the corrider, this time with Nipala, shaking her head slowly, in the lead. They passed another open door and stopped suddenly, looking inside. There was a woman tied to a chair in the center of the room. She looked at them curiously, her eyes locking onto Red and Nipala. She had a large bruise on one side of her face.

"Are you Cloud's friends?" she asked.

They all looked at her in surprise.

"Yes," Red said, turning and stepping into the room. The others followed right behind. "Who are you?"

"My name is Lenore," she replied. "Cloud has escaped. Can you untie me? We've got to get out of here."

"Of course," Red said.

Reeve and Rude walked over and quickly removed her bindings. She stood up and smiled.

"Thank you," she said. "We must leave at once. Magnus has planted a bomb in the building. I'm not sure when it's set to go off. We must get out of here as fast as possible."

"A bomb?" Reeve said, feeling a tightness in his throat. "Why?"

"There's no time to explain," she said. "We've got to go!"

"But what about our friends?" Reeve said.

She shook her head.

"There's no time to look for anyone," she said.

"If they've escaped, it would seem logical that they would get out of the palace as fast as they could," Red stated.

No one disagreed.

"All right then," Rude said. "Let's blow this joint."

They all turned to look at him.

"Hmmm," he said after a moment. "Maybe I could have phrased that better. Let's get out of here!"

* * *

Vincent's head jerked up as he heard the sound of gunfire. It was coming from somewhere ahead of them Elena came up beside him. She looked down the hallway.

"Sounds like a welcoming committee," she commented. "Should we turn back?"

Vincent stood there for a moment, listening. Then he shook his head.

"No. They're obviously not shooting at us. Which means either they're shooting at each other, or at an enemy."

"Their enemy doesn't necessarily mean our friend," she pointed out.

Vincent nodded.

"True," he replied. "But it could."

They had retrieved their weapons from the guard station. Now Vincent readied his gun and walked forward. Elenda followed behind, with Aeris bringing up the rear.

They reached the end of the hallway. A door stood open in front of them The sound of gunfire was very close now. They edged forward, weapons ready, and took a look into the room beyond. It was a large room filled with crates and machinery. They could see seven or eight men in front of a pile of crates to their left. The men were firing over the crates across the room, but Vincent could not make out their target.

He turned toward Elena, motioning toward the men. Elena nodded.

They both stepped out into the room, guns blazing. The men by the crates, taken completely by surprise by this sudden attack from the rear, barely got off a return shot before it was over.

Vincent ran over to the crates and looked across the room. For a moment he didn't anyone at all. Then he heard a shout from behind some crates on the far side of the room.

"Vincent!"

Aeris looked up at the sound of the voice, her heart suddenly beating faster in her chest. She ran around the crates until she could see the rest of the room.

Zack stepped out from behind the crates that had concealed him. He and Aeris saw each other at the same time, their eyes locking onto one another.

Aeris gave a little cry of relief and rushed over to him, throwing herself into his arms.

"Thank God," she exclaimed. "I thought you were dead. I thought I had lost you all."

Zack wrapped his arms around her, feeling a rush of both relief and triumph. He could hardly believe he had found her. Never in his life had it felt so good to see someone, to hold someone in his arms.

"Aeris," he said softly.

Vincent and Elena came up beside them.

"Good to see you again," Vincent said. "How did you get here?"

Zack looked at him, still holding Aeris tightly. "It's a long story. I came here to rescue you. But it looks like you don't need the help."

"Is anyone else with you?" Vincent asked.

"Not now," Zack replied. "I was with Red, Nipala and Rude earlier, but we got seperated."

There was a door to another hallway nearby. Elena could hear muffled shouts coming from it.

"I think it might be better if we save the discussion for a later date," she said.

Zack reluctantly let go of Aeris. All of them could hear the voices now. Without another word Zack led them back the way he had come.

* * *

"Have a seat," Gram said, motioning to a plush leather chair by the window.

Magnus sat down slowly. He glanced out the window. He could see people running in the street below.

Gram walked over behind a counter and poured them both a drink. He came back around and handed one to Magnus, who took it without a word. Gram stood there for some time just looking at him.

"How did he get away?" Magnus asked.

Gram shrugged in dismissal.

"Some foolishness by my daughter," he replied. He did not seem overly concerned. "He can't get very far. But that's not why I brought you here."

Magnus did not reply, just looked at Gram. Just the way the man was gazing at him was making him uneasy. They had schemed for months working on getting Cloud into their hands. He was the key to Gram's entire plan. There had to be a very good reason the man was so calm. He shifted in his seat and looked at his watch.

"No, I brought you here to talk about you," Gram stated.

Magnus was even more puzzled. Already he didn't like the way this conversaton was going.

"What about me?" he asked slowly.

"Where were you born, Magnus?" Gram countered.

"What?"

"Where were you born?" Gram repeated slowly.

Magnus did not reply. He could see the look in Gram's eye, the look of a vulture circling his victem. Somehow he had found out. The question now was, how much did he know?

"Why this sudden interest?"

Gram smiled.

"Did you think you could fool me forever?" he asked. "Oh, you've been very clever, I have to admit. But you made a mistake. You made Kendal suspicious. He's been having his men keep an eye on you. Kendal paid a little visit to your female friend. Lenore, I believe her name is? After some persuasion, she told him some very interesting things about you."

Magnus jumped up suddenly in anger.

"What did he do to her!" he exclaimed.

Gram took a step back and suddenly produced a gun from inside his jacket.

"Sit down," he said firmly.

Magnus looked at him, his eyes blazing, but then slowly eased himself back down in the seat. He thought furiously, a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He knew this had been a desperate venture right from the start, with little chance of success. But now after they were so close. Could it all be ruined when they were on the brink of succeeding?

"I want to know, Magnus," Gram continued. "Just what was it you had in mind? Were you waiting for me to become President and then reveal that you were born on another continent, that you have in fact been a spy for all thses years? Did you think to discredit me that way? Or was it something more devious? Have you been plotting against me, maybe even helping the Brotherhood to overthrow me? I was wondering how they knew so much about us."

Magnus felt a little less uneasy at Gram's words. Obviously Lenore had not told Kendal everything. Gram still didn't know about the plot, or about the bomb. If he had we wouldn't be sitting around here discussing it, he would have gotten far away from here a long time ago. So there was still a chance. It was just possible they might still pull this off.

But what of Lenore? His hands clenched the chair thinking what Kendal might have done to her. And then he had a horrible thought. What if he had brought her here? What if she was in the building right now, Kendal's captive. He glanced down at his watch once more. There was very little time left.

Now matter how he felt about it, there was nothing he could do for Lenore now. He just had to pray that she was not here. If there was any kind of God at all, she would not be here!

"Yes, I have been working with the Brotherhood," he said. There was no point in denying it. It didn't matter now. It was all over now, one way or another. The important thing, the only thing left for him, was to keep Gram here for as long as possible. Keep him here until it was too late.

"You made it easy, you were so trusting. All this talk of making war on the other continents, on my home! Of course I was going to oppose you. I've been working with them from the very begining. I'd do anything I could to see that you didn't take power."

Gram looked at him, just a hint of surprise on his face. Magnus didn't think he had expected to get a confession so easily. Then he slowly smiled.

"Spoken like a true patriot," he said. "I didn't think you had the courage. But I'm curious, all this time you've been with me, there must have been many times when I was vunerable to attack from you. Why didn't you strike? You say you'd do anything to keep me from taking power, if that were true, you would be willing to give up your own life to do so. Perhaps you're not as much of a patriot as you would like to think."

"It wouldn't do any good to kill you," Magnus replied. "Not by yourself. If you were to die Ormando would be the only one left with any kind of power base, and he would surely take over the government. But he's no better than you! The both of you are ruthless, coniving, power hungry madmen with delusions of Godhood who wouldn't think twice about plunging the world into a war that could very well kill millions of people all for your own persoanl gain."

Magnus stared at Gram as he said this, and he saw the anger in the man's eyes. Gram's hand went white as he clutched the pistol, but Magnus didn't care anymore.

"If you were to die I have no doubt he would continue with you lunatic war plans. No, the only way to save us all would be to ger rid of both of you at once. That's the only way we have any chance of restoring a rational government."

Gram raised his hand, and Magnus noticed that it shook violently. But when Gram spoke, his voice sounded calm enough.

"So you've been carrying out your own little agenda all this time," he said. "And just how did you expect to accomplish this task?"

Magnus just looked at him without speaking. Gram slowly raised the gun in his hand until it pointed directly at Magnus. He opened his mouth, but before he could speak there was a commotion outside. The heard shouts, and a sudden blast of gunfire. Then the doors were flung open and half a dozen men, civilians all heavily armed, burst into the room. The last man was larger than the rest and carried an enourmous machine gun over his shoulder.

Both Gram and Magnus stared at the newcomers for a moment.

"Ormando," they both said at once.

* * *

Cid stopped as he heard the sound of gunfire ahead.

"Looks like we're a little late for the party," he commented.

"Well, we could have been here a lot earlier if _someone_ hadn't had to sleep so damn late," Barret muttered looking pointedly at Reno.

Reno looked at them all innocently.

"Hey, I'm recuperating," he said defensively, nodding toward his back. "I need my rest."

Barret grumbled something the others could not hear.

"Well, better late than never," Cid said. "C'mon, I been itching to get a piece of these guys for a while now. Let's get to it."

The ran down the street and turned right, toward the sound of the gunfire. They could see the Presidential Palace, the sounds of battle coming from the street in front of it. As they approached they saw both soldiers and armed civilans fighting against one another, but there seemed to be no organization to either side, at least out here in the street. With everyone running around, along with unarmed civilians dashing by, it was difficult to tell who was who.

Cid wasn't too sure about the civilians, but he knew the soldiers were their enemies. Calling for the other to follow, he charged at the nearest group of them.

The soldiers were pinned down by civlian fire from the other side of the street. They did not see Cid's group until they were almost on top of them. By then it was too late. Cid lunged in with his spear, taking one man down immediately. Then he pulled it out and slashed it across another man. Two others trained their guns on Cid, but went down in a barrage of bullets from Barret's gun. Reno's pistol and Yuffie's sherukin finished off the last two.

They paused for a moment, looking around for more foes. Mosato was with them as well, but they had told him to stay behind them, and he has intelligent enough to have listened.

Yuffie pointed suddenly.

"Hey, isn't that Cloud?"

The other looked down the road where she was pointing. They could see two people running across the road toward a narrow alley. They were pretty far away, but Cloud's spiky hair was unmistakable.

"That's him, all right," Barret said. "I wonder if he's responsible for this whole mess. I wouldn't put it past him to have started a war among these people all by himself."

Cid turned to look at them.

"Well, whatever kind of trouble he's gotten himself into, it looks like it's up to us to save his ass, as usual. C'mon."

* * *

Cloud followed Kendal as he ran through the building. He almost lost him once when he had run into a large room filled with people. But Cloud had spotted him as he shoved his way through the crowd toward a set of large glass doors that fronted the building, and had followed Kendal out into the street. Now he was slowly gaining, and Kendal looked back and redoubled his speed from sheer terror, but Cloud had a feeling he couldn't go on much farther.

Kendal ducked into a narrow alley, Cloud not far behind now. They ran down it, the gap between them narrowing with each step. Kendal seemed to have used up the last of his strength with that final burst earlier.

Kendal reached the end of the alley and disappeared around the corner. Cloud raced after him, increasing his own speed, gaining renewed strength from the fact that he was so close to his target now.

He came around the turn and stopped dead in his tracks. Kendal has stopped too. He was standing a short way down the road, with twenty soldiers behind him. He looked at Cloud, a smile curling his lips. He was still panting, and it took him a moment to catch his breath, but then he spoke.

"You fool, did you really think I would be so stupid as to not have a plan of escape?" he said, looking at Cloud evilly. "I had these men gathered here as a reserve in case of emergencies. I think this qualifies amply. Even you can't beat twenty to one odds."

The men behind Kendal raised their guns.

* * *

"Damn," Tifa muttered. She was walking down another of the seemingly endless halls that ran through the palace. She had not seen a cafeteria, or any sign of a parking garage. She was sure she should have found it by now. She must have taken a wrong turn somewhere. Much as she hated to admit it, she had to face the fact that she was lost.

She didn't know how long she had been wandering around now, but it seemed like a long time. She had passed quite a few people in her travels, but only one soldier had taken any notice of her, and she had left him sprawled unconcious on the floor.

She walked up a wide set of stairs and saw a large room in front of her. It was crowded with people. At the far end of if she could see the street beyond through large glass doors.

She hesitated a moment, looking around. The room seemed to be the main lobby of the building, and was buzzing with activity. But maybe that would be to her advantage. Maybe it would be better to hide in plain sight.

He stepped into the room, walking quickly, but not quickly enough to draw attention to herself. Or so she hoped. Most of the people seemed to be going about their business, and the only ones who seemed to be running were the soldiers. A couple ran past her nearby, but they took no notice of her.

She made her way through the crowd, walking more rapidly now. The doors were only yards away.

Suddenly a very familiar face appeared in front of her.

"You!" Wisteria cried angrily, grabbing hold of Tifa's arm. "Don't think you can get away that easy. I've got a score to settle with you and your little spikey haired twerp of a boyfriend."

Tifa jerked her arm away and looked at Wisteria. She stopped and stared for a moment.

"Speaking of hair," she said. "What have you done with yours?"

Wisteria's face turned red and she let out a little squeal of rage. She reached back and slapped Tifa across the face.

Tifa's head turned at the blow, but then she looked back at Wisteria, anger clouding her own eyes. Slowly she looked down at her fist and concentrated.

On the street outside the battle had moved away from the area, and it appeared that things had started to quiet down a little in front of the palace. But then the plate glass window beside the main entrance suddenly exploded outward as a human projectile smashed through it. Wisteria hit the ground at the edge of the sidewalk and bounced a few times like a limp rag doll before coming to a rest in the middle of the street.

Tifa stepped slowly through the shattered window and examined her handiwork. She had used final heaven many times in the past, but she didn't think it had ever made her feel so good.

A bullet whistled by her head, bringing her back to reality. There were still plenty of soldiers around, but at least she was out now. She turned and ran rapidly down the street.

* * *

"Twenty to one? That hardly seems fair."

Cloud turned around in surprise. In spite of the danger he felt a smile crossed his face as he saw Cid emerge from the alley followed by Barret, Yuffie, Reno, and a young boy.

Kendal hardly seemed phased at all.

"Twenty to one, twenty to six, I don't think it'll make much difference," he said, looking them over. "You're still outgunned."

He turned back toward his troops.

"Kill them!"

The soldiers raised their guns again, but before they could fire the materia Cid, Barret, Yuffie and Reno held blazed suddenly to life.

Cloud felt a tingling sensation as regen, barrier, magic barrier and haste took effect. He heard the retort of the guns, but barrier protected them. Behind the others he saw the young boy holding up another materia, and this one glowed bright red.

"Tera Flare!" Mosato yelled.

Out in the cold depths of space a looming figure materialized. The huge triple winged dragon circled round and then stopped, hovering above a point on the surface of the planet far below. It reared back it's head, then lunged forward to emit a huge blast of incandescant light that streaked down toward the surface of the earth.

Kendel looked up as the clouds in the sky above rolled back. Suddenly he had a very bad feeling about this. He turned and took off as fast as he could down the street once again.

Cloud saw him and took off after him, just as an enourmous burst of energy slammed down to the earth on top of the soldiers. Cid had to turn away and shade his eyes, and when he finally looked back, there was no sign of any of the soldiers.

Kendal looked back and saw Cloud coming up rapidly behind him. Much too rapidly. Not only was Kendal still exhausted, but Cloud was still under the influence of the haste spell Yuffie had cast.

Kendal stopped and turned, knowing that no matter how desperate he was, he could no longer outrun his opponent. Cloud was closing rapidly now, his sword poised to strike. Kendal reached down and pulled out his stun materia, his hand trembling so badly that he could barely hold on to it. There was a flash of green light, but it had no effect, for Cloud was also protected by magic barrier. Cloud's sword swung, and Kendal dove to the ground as it whistled over his head. The stun materia flew from his hand.

Cloud turned like lightening and raised his sword. Kendal pulled a knife from his belt and made one last desperate lunge, but Cloud easily sidestepped it and slashed out. Blood and the knife flew from Kendal's arm. Cloud stepped closer and raised his sword once more.

"No," Kendal cried out.

"Time for a little character building!" Cloud snarled and drove the sword downward.

* * *

Gram brought up his gun, but he was too late. There was a blast of gunfire as Ormando's men opened up. With a cry Gram fell backwards and lay still.

Ormando walked over and looked down at Gram's body, a cruel smile forming on his lips.

"Finally," he said. He looked around at the others. Magnus just stood there, looking at Ormando, hardly believing his eyes. It had worked! He had come. Dr. Lee had not let him down.

He looked out the window. There were still people running in the street below, but not nearly as many. Suddenly he spotted someone. He stared out the window and his heart skipped a beat. For a moment he thought his eyes might be playing tricks on him, but then he realized it really was Lenore he saw running rapidly away from the building.

He turned back toward Ormando, and suddenly he was no longer nervous. In fact, he had never been this calm before in his entire life.

"After all these years I've finally done it," Ormando continued. "The Brotherhood has finally triumphed. With Gram out of the way there is no one to stand in my way of taking power. All my years of hard work have finally come to frutation. It will be a simple matter now to recapture our wayward SOLDIERS and discover the secret of Mako infusion. Then we can carry on Gram's plan and conquer the other continents. I am now the ruler of Mysteele, but that is only the beginging. Soon I will rule the entire world!"

He stopped and looked at the others, his gaze falling last on Magnus, who was just standing there shaking his head.

Magnus glanced down at his watch and saw the second hand ticking slowly toward ten o'clock.

"I don't think so."

* * *

"Zack, Aeris!"

Zack turned and saw Tifa running toward them.

"You're safe," she cried out. "I can't believe it!"

"Tifa," Aeris called.

Tifa ran up the them.

"Where is everyone else?"

Aeris was about to reply when another voice called out.

"Hey everyone, this way, quickly!"

They turned to see Red ahead of them, standing next to a woman they did not know.

"Red!" Tifa said.

They followed Red and the woman as they led them quickly away from the building. Down the block were more familiar figures.

They came together and Aeris looked at Reeve in shock.

"You're alive!" she exclaimed.

"We thought sure you were dead!" Elena blurted out.

"We thought _you_ were dead," Red said, looking at Zack.

"And I was afraid you were all dead."

They turned at the voice and saw Cloud walk out of a nearby alley, followed by Cid, Barret, Yuffie, Reno and Mosato.

"Cloud!" Tifa yelled and ran over to him.

They all began talking at once, all except Lenore, who silently turned to look back at the Presidential Palace.

Suddenly the ground shook below them. They heard a tremedous roar, and the Presidential Palace erupted in a huge fireball that sent flame and smoke rocketing hundreds of feet into the sky. They all fell to the ground as debris plummeted back to the earth all around them. They lay on the ground and waited until the earth stopped shaking. When they looked back up again, there was nothing left of the palace but a huge pile of rubble.

They slowly got to their feet, looking in shock at the devestation the blast had caused. Lenore stared at the remains for a long time until Cloud came up beside her. There were tears running down her cheeks.

"Magnus."


	13. A Long Time Coming

CHAPTER XIII

A LONG TIME COMING

"Well, that was an interesting little vacation," Cid commented.

He stood on the deck of the _New Age_ along with Barret, Vincent and Elena. Around them crewmen were scurrying to release the lines as the ship prepared to depart, the first ship from Mysteele to openly sail to the other continents.

"Yeah, it was interesting all right," Barret mused

He turned to look at the crowd gathered to see the ship off. Dr. Lee stood right in front, with Lenore and Mosato nearby. Mosato was smiling and waving vigoursly. Barret waved back.

"Do you think he'll be all right?"

Cid looked down and saw Mosato too.

"I think so," he said. "Lenore seems like a fine woman. I think she'll take good care of him."

Barret shook his head.

"I can't believe Yuffie gave him one of her materia."

Cid took a long drag from his cigarette.

"Neither can I," he said. "Looks like the little brat might finally be growing up."

"Yuffie!"

They all turned as Yuffie dashed by, followed closely be Reno.

"Did you steal the stun materia?" he yelled. "That's mine! I found it in the alley."

Yuffie turned back to look at him.

"Finder's keepers," he yelled back. "What can you expect if you just leave it lying around?"

"Lying around?" Reno cried out. "Locked inside my cabin is NOT lying around. Now you give that back!"

"Try and get it!" she yelled back as she dashed off.

Cid leaned back against the railing and watched as Reno chased after her.

"Then again," he said thoughtfully, "Mabye not."

Yuffie ran down the deck and passed Aeris and Reeve without a glance, Reno not far behind her.

"I can't believe you're alive," Aeris said.

Reeve smiled and shrugged.

"What's that, the third time you've said that now?"

"I know," she said, smiling in return. He couldn't describe how beautiful it made her look, or how happy it made him to see it.

"But I just can't help myself," she finished.

Reeve did not reply, just looked at her. He didn't think he would ever understand what had happened in that alley. Miracle or otherwise, he was alive. Some things in life there was just no explanation for.

"I don't know how I can ever repay you," Aeris said slowly.

Reeve looked embarrassed.

"You don't have to repay me," he replied. "I didn't do it because I was expecting anything in return." He paused for a moment, realizing that didn't make any sense. Of course he wasn't expecting anything in return, he should have been dead.

"I...I'm just glad to see you safe, that's all," he ended lamely.

Aeris did not reply, just stood there looking at him for a long time, until he became even more embarrassed. He could feel the heat in his cheeks. She stepped closer to him, then reached up and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you, Reeve," she said.

He turned away, even more embarrassed, if that were possible, but feeling a rush of euphoria too. He took a deep breath and turned back to look at her.

He hesitated for a moment, as if unsure of himself.

"Aeris, I..."

"Am I interrupting anything?"

They turned to see Cloud walking over to them. Reeve turned away quickly.

"No, not at all," he said. "I've got some things to do anyway..."

His voice trailed off and he walked away quickly.

Cloud stood beside Aeris and watched him go. Then he turned toward her.

"I think he likes you," he commented.

Aeris looked at him.

"I'm surprised you even noticed," she replied.

He grinned.

"Yeah," he agreed. "I guess I can be a little dense at times."

Reno reappeared walking slowly back toward them, Yuffie obviously having given him the slip. He lookoed over at them.

"Haven't seen her," Aeris said.

Reno nodded and turned around. He walked back the way he had come and then ducked through a hatch. He walked slowly down the hallway, not very hopeful he would find her. But it didn't matter, he was bound to run into her again sooner or later. She couldn't hide forever.

He turned down another hallway and saw Tifa walking toward him.

"Have you seen Yuffie?" he asked.

Tifa shook her head.

"No," she replied. "Why? She been causing trouble again?"

"When is she not causing trouble?" Reno replied.

Tifa smiled ruefully. She stood there looking at him for a moment, then nodded and walked past him. His gaze followed her.

"Hey," he called out.

She turned around and looked at him.

"I'm glad you're all right," he said.

Tifa didn't reply, not sure what to say. Not sure what she was feeling. Half of her wanted to wring his scrawny little neck, but she had a feeling it wouldn't do a bit of good. She had threatened him before, all to no avail apparently.

Or maybe not. At least this time she thought he had actually meant to do some good. He had tried to protect her, in his own manner, even though she hadn't wanted or needed it.

"What am I going to do with you?" she said slowly, shaking her head.

Reno shrugged. She stood there waiting for some kind of flippant response, but he just looked at her for a long time.

"Tifa," he said slowly. "I want to tell you something, but you have to promise that you won't repeat it to anyone."

She looked at him in surprise. She expected to see a smile on his face, but he looked perfectly serious.

"What is it?" she said slowly, not sure she wanted to hear this.

"Promise?"

"Yes," she replied.

"Yes what?" he said, looking at her slyly.

She gave him a look.

"Yes, I promise not to tell anyone," she recited.

His smile faded, replaced once again by a serious look. He didn't say anything for some time, just stood there, and she could tell he was struggling to get it out.

"I..."

He shut his mouth, then opened it again. "I'm sor..."

He stopped, looked at her, and took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry for what happened to your friends in sector seven."

She stood there staring at him, at a loss for words. This was certainly something she would never have expected from him. Then she turned away, thinking of her friends again. Jessie, Biggs, Wedge. The good times they had had together, before it had all gone to hell. All gone, all because of Reno. She could never forget that. She wanted to hate him for it.

But she couldn't.

It hadn't been Reno, it had been Shinra. They had all done horrible things during that time, things that they regretted. Many people died when Avalanche had blown up the mako reactors, and she was responsible. Was she really any different from him? She couldn't hate him without hating herself.

She looked down at the ground.

"Jessie, Biggs, Wedge," she whispered. "Forgive me."

She turned back toward Reno.

"It was a long time ago," she said slowly. "It's over now."

He looked at her as if he were expecting her to say more, but she remained silent. Finally he nodded.

"Okay," he said. "Remember, not a word to anyone."

"I won't forget," she replied. "And you don't forget your promise either."

"I won't," he said with a grin. He looked her up and down.

"But it will be hard."

She smiled and shook her head. Then he turned and walked down the hallway. She stood there for a minute looking after him. Then she too turned away. She walked down the corridor and into an observation lounge. She spotted Rude sitting by the window. She walked over to him and he turned toward her.

She looked at him for a moment without speaking. He just sat there, returning her gaze, his face expressionless.

"I'm sorry," she said.

His expression did not change.

"For what?"

"For what I said to you on the submarine," she answered. If she could forgive Reno she could surely forgive Rude. "It was wrong. I know what happened in sector seven wasn't your fault. I don't blame you."

He looked at her for a moment longer, then nodded slowly.

She extended her hand.

"Friends?"

He continued to look at her, and then he smiled. He reached out and grasped her hand.

"Friends," he agreed.

She let go, gave him a quick smile and walked out of the observation lounge, onto the main deck. She looked around. Things had been hectic since they had all been reunited. She hadn't had a chance to talk to Cloud.

She walked slowly along the deck, and then she spotted Cloud ahead, standing by the railing talking with Aeris.

She stood there for a moment looking at them. She had had her courage all worked up back at the bar, that night he had left, that night which seemed so long ago now. She had been determined to tell him, to finally say what was in her heart, but now she looked at him, standing beside Aeris, and doubt assailed her.

He had done so much for Aeris. When they had all thought her dead, only he had not given up hope. It was Cloud who had been determined to find her again, to bring her back. Could there be any doubt that he loved her?

Tifa turned away. It was foolish to think otherwise. It was foolish to think there could be any other outcome. It would be foolish to tell him that she loved him when she knew she didn't have a chance.

Aeris glanced over Cloud's shoulder and motioned for him to look. Cloud turned and saw Tifa standing not far away, looking in the other direction.

Aeris stepped closer to him.

"Speaking of being dense," she said softly. "Don't you think you've waited long enough?"

He looked back at Aeris, smiled and nodded in agreement. Then he walked quickly away.

"Tifa."

Tifa looked around, startled, then turned quickly away. She took a moment to compose herself, then turned back to Cloud once more.

"Cloud," she said. "You startled me."

"I didn't mean to," he replied.

They stood there in silence for a moment.

"I can't believe you all followed me," he said slowly.

She smiled.

"Well, what did you expect us to do?" she replied. "Running off like that without a word."

"I didn't want to put any of you in danger," he replied. "I'm sorry. I should have known you'd come after me."

"You should have," she answered. "I told you once that I wouldn't leave you. That I'd follow you to the ends of the earth, and beyond..."

Cloud nodded slowly.

"I know," he replied. "I should have told you. I made a mistake, and it got you all in worse trouble than if had told you. I put you in danger."

"It's not the first time," she replied. "But I accept it willingly. You don't have to protect me."

"I know," he said, staring at her, "But I can't help it. I don't know what I would have done if you had been hurt."

Tifa looked at him and smiled, touched by his sincerity. He really did care for her.

"Well, everything turned out for the best in the end, now didn't it," she replied. "Magnus..."

She stopped, as if suddenly remembering something. She reached dwon and pulled out the necklace Magnus had given her. She extended her hand.

"He wanted you to have this."

Cloud slowly took it from her, he looked at for a moment, then opened it. Tifa could see it held a picture of a young woman. She immediately recognized it as Cloud's mother.

Cloud closed his hand around it and bowed his head.

"I was hoping he hadn't forgotten her," he said softly.

She looked at him for a moment.

"You knew?" she asked.

He looked up at her again, his face pale.

"I suspected," he replied. "But I wasn't sure until now. I don't know whether I can find it in my heart to forgive him. But at least I did get to see him again, before the end."

They feel silent again. He was still looking at her, as if he wanted to say more. And so did she.

"Cloud..."

Aeris had stood watching the two for a little while, then she turned to walk away, just as Barret came up, looking around.

"Have you seen Cloud?" he asked. "I need to..."

Suddenly he spotted Cloud and Tifa.

"Oh there he is," he said. He started to walk toward them but Aeris ran over and grabbed him by the arm.

"Not now," she said.

He looked at her.

"But it'll just take a second," he said.

She grabbed hold of his other arm and forced him to look at her.

"Not...now," she said firmly.

Barret looked at her with a puzzled expression, then he looked up at Cloud and Tifa. Suddenly realiziation dawned on his face.

"Oh, I get it," he said, smiling suddenly. He nodded and slowly walked away, but didn't get far before he stopped, turned, and looked back at Cloud and Tifa. Aeris walked over to him and took him by the arm once again.

"C'mon," she said. "Let's go take a walk."

"Yeah?" Cloud asked.

Tifa paused and looked at him again. She knew he cared for her, but there was a big difference between that and loving someone. At least, the way she wanted him to love her.

She turned away from him, staring out across the harbour. She had stood by him all this time, waited for him all these years. In a perfect world that would mean something. But love didn't work like that. It was just something that happened on it's own. It didn't matter how long you'd known someone or how much you had shared. You couldn't make someone love you if they didn't. If they loved someone else.

But he was still her friend. She knew that. She knew he would understand, even if he didn't feel the same way.

"I have something to tell you," she said, not turning around.

"I have something to tell you too," he replied softly.

She went on as if she hadn't heard him.

"It's about how I feel," she said. "About you and I. I don't know quite how to say it. I've kept it in for a long time. I don't know why. I'm just scared I guess. I don't know how you will feel about it."

She stopped for a moment. Cloud made no sound behind her.

"You probably don't even want to hear it," she continued. "I'm probably just being foolish. But I can't help it. I can't help how I feel inside."

She rested her hands on the rail, and she could see that they were trembling.

"Cloud...I..."

She felt him come up behind her. And for a moment she thought she could not continue. But she had to say it, she had to say it or she would burst.

"I don't know whether it means anything to you...but...I love you."

She felt tears suddenly welling in her eyes.

"I know you proabably just think I'm being foolish. I know you're probably in love with Aeris, and if you are, I'll understand."

But she wouldn't. She couldn't.

"I know I probably don't..."

She felt his hand on her shoulder. Slowly he turned her round until she was facing him.

"Tifa," he said slowly.

He looked at her, and she could see his eyes were moist as well.

"Tifa, my loyal companion..."

He brought his hand up and brushed away her tears.

"My dearest friend..."

He brought his hand around behind her head and caressed her hair.

"I don't know what I would have done without you," he said, continuing to stare directly into her eyes. "I can't imaging living my life without you by my side."

He slid his other hand behind her back and pulled her to him. He looked down into her deep brown eyes.

"I love you, Tifa. I love you."

He presed his lips against hers, and for a moment she thought her heart would stop beating in her chest. She wrapped her arms around him, as he pulled her even tighter to him. Tears ran down her face, but now they were tears of joy. If this were a dream, she never wanted to wake up. But it wasn't a dream, it was better than that. It was a dream come true.

Eventually their lips parted, but he continued to hold her, looking down at her and smiling. She lowered her head and rested it against his chest.

"Oh, Cloud," she said. "I never thought this day would come. I'm so happy."

"So am I, Tifa," he repled. "So am I."

* * *

Down in the hold the cheif petty officer looked around at the stored crates with satisfaction. It might be a rough crossing. The journy across to the other continents rarely went by without hitting at least one storm. But the crew had done a good job of securing the cargo. It didn't look like any of it would shift in a storm.

He started up the steps but then stopped suddenly, listening. He thought he had heard something over to his left, beyond the crates. He paused for a moment deciding whether he should go take a look, but then shrugged and continued up the stairs. Even a well kept ship still had it's compliment of rats.

He got to the top of the stairs and closed the hatch behind him. For a moment all was silent down in the hold, but then a man stepped out from behind the crates. He was an older man with greying hair. He walked slowly over to the stairway and looked up, his face expressionless, but there was a strange glint in his emerald green eyes.

THE END

* * *

AUTHORS NOTE: _Whew! That was a long one! But I decided not to hold back at all on this one. I made the others a little short because I wasn't sure whether I could keep your attention with a long one, but I've gained some confidence that you'll keep reading them. _

_Well, they FINALLY said it. And it's about time, don't you think? Could it be that Cloud and Tifa will finally have some time to spend with each other after waiting for so long? Do you think they'll be able to find happiness together? Do you think they'll finally be able to settle down and have some peace and quiet? _

_Don't count on it. Hehehe _

_And what of Aeris? Seems she has lost Cloud but now has two suitors of her own to choose from. Which is it gonna be? I had my mind made up on Zack (in fact, the main reason I brought him back was to have someone for Aeris) but now I'm not so sure. Does anybody out there have an opinon? I'm still leaning towards Zack at the moment, but maybe if someone argues persuasivly enough for Reeve they could change my mind. Let's hear it. _

_A word about Tifa's confrontation with Wisteria. I thought the stupidest part of the original game was Tifa's slapping match with Scarlet. I mean c'mon, a martial arts expert engaged in a slapping match? Puleez! Tifa would have kicked her butt. So I decided to show you what SHOULD have happened, and I had a lot of fun doing it. _

_Keep sending me those comments. I just eat 'em up at _

_Til next time._

* * *

_PUBLISHER'S NOTE: And so ends The Dark Shore, my second favorite of Frank's stories (behind The Mind Slayers). Again, none of this was written by me, I'm just the middleman. Think of me as a newspaper delivery boy; I don't make the newspaper, I bring it to you so you can read it. The next player up to bat is Jenova's Disciples, with Mind Slayers on deck._


End file.
